Tottenham Hotspur and Son Heung-min have both responded after Rodrigo Bentancur's offensive remark towards South Koreans in a recent interview.
The Uruguay international made the ill-judged comment during a televised interview ahead of the Copa America, where the reporter asked him if he could have a shirt from "the Korean".
Bentancur replied "Sonny?" before the reporter added "or any other champion?" after which Bentancur replied "Or any cousin of Sonny, they all look more or less the same!"
The midfielder's remark understandably caused severe uproar and was brought to the attention of Kick It Out, who said that Bentancur's poor attempt at a joke highlighted "a wider issue that heavily affects East Asian and wider communities".
Bentancur quickly took to Instagram to apologise to Son for his "very bad" attempt at humour, saying: "Sony brother! I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke! You know [that] I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone else! I love you brother!"
Neither Tottenham nor the Lilywhites captain had responded to Bentancur's initial comment nor his apology until Tuesday morning, where Son acknowledged the Uruguayan's "mistake" and insisted that they remain "brothers".
"I've spoken with Lolo. He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised," the South Korea international said in a statement. "Lolo would not ever mean to intentionally say something offensive.
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,... pic.twitter.com/HOkdu50n9p
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) June 20, 2024
"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."
Tottenham players to undergo diversity education after Bentancur comment
Meanwhile, Tottenham also insisted that discrimination has "no place" at their club and announced that all players would undergo further diversity training to help the Lilywhites meet their relevant objectives.
"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," a statement read.
"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."
Bentancur's Uruguay begin their Copa America campaign against Panama on Sunday night, while Son recently played in both of South Korea's World Cup qualifying wins over Singapore and China, scoring twice against the former.
Ben Knapton
