Rodrigo Bentancur free to make Tottenham return next week despite seven-match ban

Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for seven games and fined £100,000 by the FA, but he will be free to play for Tottenham as early as next week.

The Uruguayan was charged by the governing body in September over comments he made while appearing on TV in his home country. Bentancur was asked for South Korean star Son Heung-min's shirt by an interviewer, to which he replied: "Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."

Bentancur denied the charge and apologised to his team-mate, but the FA dished out a hefty punishment due to it being an 'aggravated breach' of their guidelines, and an independent regulatory commission panel upheld their view.

Although Bentancur has been ordered to sit out seven Spurs matches, the FA ban only applies to domestic games. The punishment will rule him out of Premier League and Carabao Cup action until Boxing Day, but he will be eligible to play in Tottenham's Europa League clash with AS Roma next week, as well as their trip to Rangers on December 12.

That will come as a relief to manager Ange Postecoglou, who is battling a host of injury problems in north London. Wilson Odobert and Richarlison are both long-term absentees, Micky van de Ven is out with a thigh injury, while forwards Timo Werner and Mikey Moore were both sidelined before the international break.

Bentancur has appeared in all bar one of Tottenham's 11 Premier League games this season, starting seven of them and scoring once. The 27-year-old is an important member of Postecoglou's engine room, and has been with Spurs since signing from Juventus in 2022.

The north Londoners lost two games on the spin before the two-week break - away at Galatasaray and at home to newly-promoted Ipswich Town. And things aren't about to get any easier, with a trip to Manchester City scheduled for this Saturday evening.