Ange Postecoglou tells Rodrigo Bentancur he's 'got to take the punishment' as Tottenham boss weighs in on Son Heung-min racism incident

In a June television interview in Uruguay, Bentancur made an offensive racist remark about South Koreans. When the host asked the midfielder for a Spurs player's shirt, he responded: 'Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same'. Following the incident, South Korea captain Son shared on social media that he had accepted Bentancur's apologies and that the two would always be "brothers".

The English Football Association has now charged Bentancur for the comment, and he may be subject to a lengthy suspension. The 27-year-old may be banned from six to twelve games if proven guilty or if the charge is not disputed. He has until September 19 to respond to the charges.

Speaking to the media, Postecoglou said: "In terms of Sonny and Rodri, they had a discussion about the whole incident. Both players understand and respect each other’s position and Rodri has already apologised for what he said. Sonny has accepted that and accepted the fact that one of his team-mates and a person he is close with has made a mistake."

He added: "If we are talking about having a society that is understanding and tolerant of everything, we also must show that to people who make mistakes as Rodri has made in his time.

"We know him very well, a lot better than most because we spend every day with him and understand the kind of person he is. We understand that even though he is a great guy and a fantastic team-mate, he has made a big error this time and he has got to take the punishment but also we need to give him the opportunity to learn from it and atone from it and hopefully others learn from it as well."

Despite the off-the-field controversy, Bentancur is likely to be a part of Postecoglou's plans for the midfield when Tottenham take on Arsenal on September 15.