Why Enzo Fernández escaped FA suspension for racist chants while Rodrigo Bentancur received a long suspension

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 However, his South American compatriot has remained unpunished.

Bentancur, who was also fined £100,000, was filmed on Uruguayan television make derogatory comments about South Koreans in response to a question about the Spurs captain Son Heung Min.

Meanwhile, Chelsea rival Fernandez has been free to play since footage of his racist chant went viral due to a bizarre loophole.

The Argentine filmed himself singing a derogatory song after the crisis in his country America's Cup win earlier this year.

The song refers to how many players on the French team are of African descent, and the lyrics translate as: “They play for France, but their parents are from Angola. His mother is from Cameroon, while his father is from Nigeria. But his passport says French.”

This led to his Chelsea teammate Wesley Fofana publicly criticizing Fernández and describing the song as “uninhibited racism.”

The midfielder quickly apologized, as Son confirmed that Bentancur had also done so, but Fernández avoided a Premier League sanction.

Why doesn't the FA accuse Fernández?

It simply comes down to jurisdiction, since when Fernández sang the racist song, he was fulfilling an international duty.

Thus, the FA handed over responsibility for a possible punishment to FIFA and/or CONMEBOL to impose sanctions in September.

Two months later, Fernández is still playing freely for Argentina, and news of any investigation is cooling and unlikely to materialise.

Even if the matter is reviewed and disciplinary action is taken retroactively, it would only apply to international matches and not to Chelsea.

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So why is Bentancur different?

Bentancur's offensive took place on Uruguayan television in June, weeks after Tottenham's 2023/24 Premier League season ended.

However, Spurs had not officially released the former Juventus star for the Copa America, so it remains a Premier League matter.

Bentancur interviewed Cotelo in his spare 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 a £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 inappropriately and/or used abusive and/or insulting words and/or brought the game into disrepute. It was further alleged that this constitutes an “offence.” aggravated”, 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 accusation, but the independent Regulatory Commission considered it proven and imposed its sanctions after a hearing. The written reasons for these decisions can be seen below.”

There is also precedent behind this, with the FA not sanctioning Manchester City star Rodri for his comments about Gibraltar this summer.

The winner of the Ballon d'Or was sanctioned with a one-match ban by UEFA along with Álvaro Morata for violating the rules of “decent conduct” by singing about Gibraltar after Spain's 2-1 victory over England in the Euro 2024 end.