Tottenham have pledged to further educate all their players after Rodrigo Bentancur's alleged racist joke about team-mate Son Heung-Min.
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Bentancur made a racist joke about SonIssued an apology to his team-mateTottenham vow to work on increasing awarenessWHAT HAPPENED?
Bentancur made a racially insensitive comment about his team-mate, Son, during a TV interview. The club is taking steps to ensure such incidents do not happen again, reinforcing their dedication to fostering a respectful and inclusive environment.
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The controversy began when Bentancur, appearing on the Uruguayan TV show "Por La Camiseta" ahead of the Copa America, made a remark about Son. The Uruguayan international joked that “they all look the same” when referring to his South Korean teammate. The comment quickly sparked backlash, prompting Bentancur to issue a public apology.
The Uruguayan took to Instagram and wrote: "Sonny brother, I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke. You know I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone else! I love you, brother!"
WHAT SON SAID
Son responded graciously to Bentancur’s apology. In a social media post, Son expressed his understanding and acceptance of the apology and wrote: "I’ve spoken with Lolo. He made a mistake, he knows this and apologized. Lolo would not mean to ever say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all. We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in pre-season to fight for our club as one."
WHAT TOTTENHAM SAID
As part of their response, Tottenham will be implementing further educational programs for all players. These initiatives are designed to promote understanding and respect for diverse cultures and backgrounds, aligning with the club’s diversity, equality, and inclusion objectives.
They issued a statement, which read: "Following a comment from Rodrigo Bentancur in an interview video clip and the player’s subsequent public apology, the Club has been providing assistance in ensuring a positive outcome on the matter. This will include further education for all players in line with our diversity, equality and inclusion objectives. We fully support that our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident and that the team can focus on the new season ahead. We are extremely proud of our diverse, global fanbase and playing squads. Discrimination of any kind has no place at our Club, within our game or within wider society."