Tottenham learn fate of Rodrigo Bentancur ban appeal | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur will serve the final two games of his seven-match ban after the Football Association rejected his appeal.

The Uruguayan was banned in November for using a racial slur when talking about Tottenham team-mate and captain Son Heung-min in a televised appearance in his homeland and was also fined £100,000.

Spurs opted to appeal against the ban, despite widespread condemnation of Bentancur's remarks, and hoped he wouldn't need to miss the upcoming games against Manchester United and Liverpool, because they felt the punishment issued was overly harsh.

But the 27-year-old, who has still been able to feature for Spurs in the Europa League, will now not feature again in the Premier League until Boxing Day at the earliest, with an FA statement confirming that "an independent appeal board has dismissed an appeal by Rodrigo Bentancur" and that his "seven-match suspension remains as ordered by the regulatory commission".

Tottenham have not publicly commented on losing the appeal but there has been a joint statement released by the anti-discrimination campaign Kick It Out alongside the Frank Soo foundation.

Son Heung-min has forgiven his team-mate / Dan Istitene/GettyImages

"Kick It Out received more reports about Tottenham’s decision to appeal against the discrimination sanction for Rodrigo Bentancur than the original incident itself," a statement read.

"Many of the reports from the East and Southeast Asian community and beyond told us how angry and disappointed they were with the club’s actions and how it extended the pain for those who were affected by the original incident.

"We know this has been an upsetting episode for many fans and hope the club will now reflect on its decision and how it might seek to engage with the community."

Son has publicly forgiven Bentancur for his comments, revealing that he'd "made a mistake, knows this and has apologised".