Why Enzo Fernandez escaped FA ban over racist chant as Rodrigo Bentancur handed lengthy ban
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Rodrigo Bentancur will serve a seven-match ban for making a racial slur but Enzo Fernandez escaped an FA ban for a similar incident.
The Tottenham midfielder cannot play domestic football until Boxing Day yet his fellow South American has gone unpunished.
Bentancur, who has also been handed a £100,000 fine, was filmed on Uruguayan TV making derogatory remarks about South Koreans in a reply to a question about Spurs captain Son Heung-min.
Chelsea rival Fernandez meanwhile has been free to play since footage of his racist chant went viral due to a strange loophole.
The Argentine filmed himself singing a derogatory chant in the aftermath of his country’s Copa America win earlier this year.
The song refers to how many French national team players are of African heritage, with the lyrics translating to: "They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. Their mother is from Cameroon, while their father is from Nigeria. But their passport says French."
It led to his Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana publicly calling out Fernandez and describing the song as, ‘uninhibited racism.’
The midfielder quickly apologised, as Son confirmed Bentancur had also done, but Fernandez avoided a Premier League ban.
Why won’t the FA charge Fernandez?
Simply, it comes down to jurisdiction as when Fernandez sang the racist chant, he was on international duty.
So, the FA handed the responsibility of a potential punishment to FIFA and/or CONMEBOL to hand down any sanctions in September.
Two months later, Fernandez is still freely playing for Argentina, with news of any investigation going cold and unlikely to materialise.
Even if the matter is revisited and disciplinary action is retroactively taken, it would only apply to international games and not Chelsea.
So why is Bentancur different?
Bentancur's offence took place on Uruguayan TV in June, weeks after Tottenham’s 2023/24 Premier League season had ended.
However, the ex-Juventus star hadn’t officially been released by Spurs for Copa America duty and so it remains a Premier League matter.
Bentancur interviewed with Cotelo in his own time, which meant the FA saw fit to charge him for his comments.
An FA statement read: “An independent Regulatory Commission has imposed a seven-match suspension and £100,000 fine on Rodrigo Bentancur for a breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.
“It was alleged that the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder breached FA Rule E3.1 as he acted in an improper manner and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. It was further alleged that this constitutes an "aggravated breach", which is defined in FA Rule E3.2, as it included a reference – whether express or implied – to nationality and/or race and/or ethnic origin.
“Rodrigo Bentancur denied this charge, but the independent Regulatory Commission found it to be proven and imposed his sanctions following a hearing. Its written reasons for these decisions can be seen below.”
There is also a precedent behind this, as the FA did not sanction Manchester City star Rodri for his Gibraltar remarks this summer.
The Ballon d’Or winner was handed a one-game ban by UEFA alongside Alvaro Morata for violating rules of ‘decent conduct’ by singing about Gibraltar in the aftermath of Spain’s 2-1 win over England in the Euro 2024 final.
