Son Heung-min says he has accepted Tottenham Hotspur team-mate Rodrigo Bentancur’s apology for using a racial slur.
Bentancur, 26, apologised after saying the South Korea international and his cousins “all look the same” during a TV broadcast.
The former Juventus midfielder made the comments last week on the football programme Por la Camiseta, which is broadcast in his native Uruguay.
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He said during the show, while laughing: “Sonny, or a cousin of Sonny, they all look the same.”
Bentancur posted on his social media account after the incident: “Sonny, brother! I am sorry for what happened, it was a joke in bad taste,” said Bentancur. “You know that I love you and I would never disrespect you or hurt you or anyone. I love you brother!”
Son confirmed that Bentancur has apologised and that the two remain “brothers” and added he would be drawing a line under the incident.
“I’ve spoken to Lolo,” said Son. “He made a mistake, he knows this and has apologised.
“Lolo would not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive. We are brothers and nothing has changed at all.
“We’re past this, we’re united, and we will be back together in pre-season to fight for our club as one.”
In November, a supporter who made a racist gesture towards Son during last year’s Premier League fixture against Crystal Palace was banned from attending football matches for three years.
Bentancur has scored seven goals in 68 appearances for Tottenham since joining from Juventus in January 2022, while Son has 162 goals in 408 matches since joining from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015.
Tottenham will be travelling to Japan and South Korea on their pre-season tour ahead of the 2024-25 season; they are scheduled to play Japanese side Vissel Kobe in Tokyo on July 26 before playing Bayern Munich in Seoul on August 2.
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Supporter handed three-year football ban for racist gesture towards Son
(Photo by Sebastian Frej/MB Media/Getty Images)
