Sports
Son Heung-min breaks silence on Rodrigo Bentancur racial slur controversy with official statement
Son Heung-min has broken his silence after Tottenham teammate Rodrigo Bentancur used a racial slur when referring to the attacker.
Appearing on Uruguayan TV, Bentancur was asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt, before replying: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too as they all look the same.”
Anti-discrimination charity Kick it Out subsequently received a “significant number” of complaints about the racial slur.
Bentancur took to Instagram to apologise, adding that his comments were a “very bad joke”.
Bentancur posted: “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!”
And on Thursday, Son, on his own social media, responded: “I’ve spoken with Lolo. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised.
“Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally 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.”
Meanwhile, in a club statement Tottenham stressed that they would provide “further education for all players in line with our diversity, equality and inclusion objectives.”
Son has accepted Bentancur’s apology (Getty)
Upon Son’s statement the club announced that it had drawn a line under the incident, adding: “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.”
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Featured Image Credit: Getty
Topics: Racism, Football, Premier League, Tottenham Hotspur, Son Heung Min