Ange Postecoglou has said Rodrigo Bentancur must be given the chance to learn from his mistakes and not succumb to those “who want to burn people at the stake” as Tottenham contest the length of his ban for racist comments.
Bentancur was hit with a seven-game suspension and fined £100,000 by the Football Association after the 27-year-old was interviewed on Uruguayan Television programme “Por La Camiseta.” Host Rafa Cotelo asked Bentancur for a Spurs player’s shirt, to which he replied, “Sonny’s?” [Son Heung-Min], adding: “It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
Bentancur swiftly apologised and Son said “nothing had changed” between the pair — describing them as “brothers” — but an independent regulatory commission panel upheld the FA charge.
FA rules dictate a minimum six-game ban for such an offence and while Spurs accepted the guilty finding, they believe the seven-game punishment is “severe” and have appealed.
“I’m not interested in [how it] looks,” Postecolgou said on Friday. “I’ve said all along: he’s made a mistake, we’ve accepted he’s made a mistake. We’ll accept whatever penalty comes our way.
“The first one was a little bit harsh so we’ve appealed that, which I think is our right. That’s the whole process. Even if you look at the punishment, it is at the lower end of the scale.
“So even the people who have all the information have adjudicated that way. I get that people want to burn people at the stake these days but as I keep saying, part of this process if you want real education and progress is to understand that when somebody makes a mistake and they pay a penalty, part of that is education.
“Hopefully treating them in a way that people see that is the way forward. Whether it is Rodrigo or anyone else, I’m old enough in life… I’ve made bigger mistakes than that but I was allowed to learn from them. Hopefully I am a better human being because of them.”
Bentancur will be suspended from domestic action until after Christmas unless Spurs are successful and his ban is reduced by one game to the minimum so the midfielder can face Liverpool on Dec. 22.
“I couldn’t care less who we’re playing against but it is worth it because that’s what we feel,” Postecoglou said. “We still have a judicial process. That’s why appeals are there. We’re not going outside the jurisdiction or trying to create something that isn’t available to us. Our view is that we think it was harsh, we think it should have been the minimum and we’ll go through that process. If its deemed not, we’ll accept that.”
Spurs will be without Cristian Romero for Saturday’s trip to Manchester City due to injury while fellow centre-back Micky van de Ven is sidelined until the middle of next month with a hamstring issue.