Why Manchester United are paying close attention to Tottenham Hotspur’s FA appeal

Manchester United will be paying close attention after Tottenham Hotspur made an appeal to the Football Association against Rodrigo Bentancur’s ban.

Tottenham Hotspur have filed an appeal against the severity of the FA’s seven-game domestic ban for Rodrigo Bentancur.

The ban was imposed after the midfielder made a racist remark about teammate Son Heung-min. Spurs described the Football Association‘s punishment as “harsh.”

The North-London club have acknowledged the guilty verdict reached by an independent regulatory commission, which also fined Bentancur £100,000 and mandated his participation in a face-to-face education program.

A statement from Spurs read: “We can confirm that the club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur’s FA suspension, issued earlier this week.

“While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe.”

The charges stemmed from comments Bentancur made during a television appearance in Uruguay in June, with the FA formally charging him in September.

Despite denying the allegations, the midfielder is currently suspended from domestic matches until 26 December.

Manchester United will be keeping an eye on the result of the’ appeal since they face Tottenham in the quarter-final of the Carabao Cup on 19 December.

It is the final game of Bentancur’s ban as things stand, but if the FA do lighten the punishment in any way, it is possible that he could be available for selection in that match.

United will remember when Edinson Cavani – Bentancur’s former national teammate – received a ban from the Association in 2021 after the striker made a comment on social media to a friend, with the term used being considered as racist in the United Kingdom.

He received a three-game ban at the time and while United decided against an appeal, Uruguay’s players’ union called for the decision to be overturned.

It has been reported that Bentancur will remain suspended domestically while the appeal is heard, with no timeframe given for when a result could come.

Make sure to follow UtdDistrict on X, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok to never miss out on any of our Manchester United content. Our podcast, What the Devil?, is released every Wednesday at 6 pm (BST) on the United View YouTube channel.