Where does Bentancur's ban rank among the LONGEST in football?
Published: 12:08 GMT, 18 November 2024
Rodrigo Bentancur has been banned for playing for Tottenham for seven matches after being found guilty by the Football Association for using an alleged racist remark about team-mate Son Heung-min in a TV interview.
The Uruguay international implied that all South Koreans 'look the same' after suggesting that a player 'could be Sonny's cousin' and was charged by the FA in September with an alleged misconduct breach.
Bentancur has also received a fine of £100,000, but the blow of his sanction will be worth more to Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, who has relied on the player heavily during this Premier League campaign.
With his seven-match domestic ban, Bentancur will serve one of football's sternest punishments for breaking the rules - although others have served longer on the sidelines for their indiscretions.
From drugs to gambling to violent conduct, there have been a vast number of reasons why some players have missed months of the beautiful game.
Here are some of the players to have served the longest bans issued in the Premier League era.
The 2022-23 season saw one of the longest bans issued to a player, coupled with Ivan Toney's mammoth sanction for gambling breaches.
Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrovic was banned for eight games after shoving referee Chris Kavanagh during their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United in March.
The FA were even thought to have wanted a longer suspension for the ugly incident, although it has since passed, and he has returned to Fulham's team.
The Serbian striker is not the only man to have received an eight game ban. Manchester City's Ben Thatcher received the same punishment for elbowing Portsmouth's Pedro Mendes unconscious in a game in September 2006.
Thatcher was only booked for the incident at the time, but the FA issued the ban after choosing to take further action post-match. Man City also fined him six week's wages for the incident.