Almost half a year after the controversy, a strong sanction threatens Rodrigo Betancur. According to several British media published this Wednesday, the English Football Association (FA) is preparing to impose on the Uruguayan footballer Tottenham Hotspur a punishment that could reach a seven-game suspension.
The reason? A response from the South American player during an interview broadcast last June on a television program in his country. They asked Betancur for a “Korean” shirt, and he, in a loving allusion to Son Heung-Minhis South Korean teammate, asked “Sony?” “Or a champion,” the presenter added. And in the counter-reply was where the commotion broke out: “Or a cousin of Sony, they are all more or less the same…”
The Premier League would suspend Rodrigo Bentancur for 7 games for an “act of discrimination” against Son.
The Uruguayan had assured in an interview that Koreans “are all the same.”pic.twitter.com/WB0SaTBUIC
— Luis Fdo Restrepo (@luisferpo) November 13, 2024
The reactions and criticism were immediate, and Betancur was showered with accusations of racism. Such was the scandal that the Uruguayan had to come forward with an apology published on his Instagram account: “Sony brother! I apologize to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke! You know what I love you and I would never disrespect or hurt you or anyone! I love you brother!».
The aforementioned, Son Heung-Min, played down the matter. “At the moment, due to the FA process, I can’t say much about it,” said the Asian striker. But I love Rodrigo, I love him. We have a lot of good memories since we started playing together. He apologized immediately after what happened. We were on vacation and I was at home. “I didn’t even realize what was happening when I received a long message from him, you could tell it came from his heart.”
«When we returned to start the preseason, I was still very sad and He almost cried when he publicly and personally apologized. I was very sorry. “We are all human and we all make mistakes, but we learn from them,” Son added.
Despite the South Korean footballer’s strong statements, the FA has continued with its sanctioning process and, according to the newspapers ‘The Sun’ and ‘Daily Mail’, the English federation is about to announce a “long suspension.” This penalty would be based on non-compliance with article 3 of the British Regulation, which punishes “a reference, express or implied, to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin”. And a sanction is specified that ranges from 6 to 12 matches.
#Racism #bad #joke #joke #Koreans #cost #Premier #footballer #dearly
