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Rodrigo Bentancur

It was always going to end this way (in public). I'm sure both Son and Bentancour, and Spurs especially, don't want this thing to drag on and become an even bigger media story/debate, that could possibly disrupt the preparations for next season.

How much truth there is to this official story, is hard to tell, but if there's any big animosity between them it will seep through in one way or another. Had this been a breaking point for Son and Bentancour's relationship, we could quite possibly have seen one of them leave this summer, IMO.
 
Jurgen the German said:
I think it does. Footballers are public figures and therefore held to a different standard to regular people. They are also ambassadors for our club and it is not great for the club when something like this happens.
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I get what you are saying. But i don't think the club should have the power to fine them while they are not "representing" the club. Legally i don't think they can. Or at least they shouldn't be able to.

Don't get me wrong. They should have a word. But a fine?

Uraguay on the other hand could.
 
Well handled by the club I think. It's not the biggest incident and I really don't think Sonny would be upset by it (that's just an assumption on my part, could be completely wrong.)

It's a good chance to educate though. Rather than "oh he's just from South America" it should be called out and maybe South Americans will understand that it's probably not great to say all Asians look the same. I've had Japanese people do it to me and it's not hugely offensive but it can make you feel a bit gross.

One story that sticks out in my head was when I worked at Apple. A lady came rushing up to me with cash in her hand and said "I'm back and I'm ready to buy the iPhone now!" Long story short, it was the other white guy, who looked nothing like me, who served her. Completely innocent and harmless and I had a laugh but it did make me think...oh maybe we do look the same to them?
 
spurspinter1 said:
The "he wouldn't intentionally say anything offensive" bit is interesting, I mean Bentancur didn't say that Asians look the same accidentally did he.

The PR friendly angle was always for Son to publicly accept the apology and declare they have moved on. We'll never know if it's a genuine learning point for Bentancur.

Imagine if Son came out and said "Given my lived experiences of racism and continued active participation on the kick it out initiative I actually find it unacceptable that a colleague, effectively a subordinate of mine would fall short of the reasonable standards we ask of fans to not be racist, saying sorry doesn't make whatever you've said okay and any reasonable apology should also have been aimed towards the Asian population not just towards me. I'm not going to publicly forgive Barry the West Ham supporter making ching chong noises whilst I'm doing my job so why is it any different in this case?". Would Sonny then get brick for not accepting the apology? He puts a fair bit of time in to raising awareness and I could understand him not just wanting to sweep it under the carpet/ move forwards amicably.

I am somewhat playing devils advocate / being cynical here and I don't think Bentancur has a full on hatred of Asians as such, obviously (imo at least) it's a case of ignorance rather than vitriol which arguably isn't the case when you have fans making monkey gestures and the likes. I will also add I haven't seen the exact context of the comment / joke, imo you can say something unacceptable if it's clear you're mocking the people who would sincerely say something as stupid / ignorant to make a point but it can obviously then get a bit opaque in terms of intent.
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I actually think the 'not meaning to say something offensively intentionally' is correct. I read somewhere that South Americans are not educated in the same way in this area and would likely be naive in terms of knowing the repercussions of what he said. That is not to excuse him from what was said, but I do believe he did not mean the harm caused. You can see from the way that they interact in training and on the pitch from past seasons that they are definitely friends, so just don't envisage there was anything malicious about it. Again, not excusing him and of course some will want to portray a more sinister angle to it but I seriously doubt it.

The positive is he is getting better educated on it and perhaps raises awareness for other South Americans. Think this is the end of the matter really....
 
braineclipse said:
Forced into what that they shouldn't?

I can't really think of anything the club shouldn't do that it seems at all likely that they would be forced into around this.

Of course it has something to do with the club. He's our player, said what he said about our captain.

By now it's probably/hopefully already being handled, but it's definitely a thing the club should make sure doesn't become an issue beyond what's already happened. Make sure Bentancur understands why this isn't acceptable and shouldn't be repeated, make sure Bentancur and Son are cool to work together again.
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Working for a company doesn't mean they own you 24/7 or that they should publicly comment on things you do or say in your private time as opposed to when you are actively working for them.
If there is illegal activity then a response should likely be forthcoming (though we've seen that's often not the case in sport)
There was an interesting case recently in America where an American footballer was invited to speak in his private time at the graduation ceremony of a Catholic school (he is a Catholic too). Some of what he said about gender roles was consistent with both his views and likely those of the school, but the NFL felt it necessary to step in and comment though his team did not.
 
Trixster said:
This, as a Brit, always gives me a rub the eyes moment when I am in the area.
No malicious intent in any way, just an ignorance perhaps to global derogatory terms.

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But if it's not in an area where Pakistani people live or have a presence, so has absolutely no relevance to them, why would whoever lives there care?
It could mean something totally different in another language or culture.
 
It was a stupid joke that should not have been said. Its completely different to Suarez and Evra. He has apologised, Son has accepted it now lets move on. Its not like friendship groups have never done this type of thing before, it literally happens all of the time when you have a group of friends from different backgrounds, races, religions. This just happened to have been done in front of a camera which was very stupid.
 
Oh well, <throws hands in the air> there’s South Americans for you!
(Apologies for offending any South Americans out there)
 
Lilbaz said:
So if you were on holiday with a work colleague and you said something offensive to him as a joke. You think it would be alright that your employer could discipline you for it?
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I might not think it to be alright, but I'm pretty sure I would be hauled over the coals for something like that by my employer if they came to know aobut it, more so if it was public and definitely if it involved a work colleague. There's a 'bringing the company into disrepute' angle.
It's not unheard of for people to lose their jobs or face disciplinary measures when outed over social media for being racist.
 
Lilbaz said:
So if you were on holiday with a work colleague and you said something offensive to him as a joke. You think it would be alright that your employer could discipline you for it?
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I didn't say they should or could discipline him. I'm saying it's a club issue, a lot of things can be done that aren't disciplinary.

Depends on the job. But yes, In some circumstances, if what's being said is bad enough (joke or not), I think there can and should be disciplinary actions taken. I don't think this is one of them.
 
JerusalemMan said:
Working for a company doesn't mean they own you 24/7 or that they should publicly comment on things you do or say in your private time as opposed to when you are actively working for them.
If there is illegal activity then a response should likely be forthcoming (though we've seen that's often not the case in sport)
There was an interesting case recently in America where an American footballer was invited to speak in his private time at the graduation ceremony of a Catholic school (he is a Catholic too). Some of what he said about gender roles was consistent with both his views and likely those of the school, but the NFL felt it necessary to step in and comment though his team did not.
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No one is saying that they own you 24/7. But in some jobs certain things are expected both during work hours and outside of work hours.

Doesn't have to be illegal for a statement to be warranted.

If one of our players had said what that American footballer did (assuming we're talking about the same incident) I definitely would want the club to speak out, in public. And that would have course be well within their rights.
 
Lilbaz said:
I get what you are saying. But i don't think the club should have the power to fine them while they are not "representing" the club. Legally i don't think they can. Or at least they shouldn't be able to.

Don't get me wrong. They should have a word. But a fine?

Uraguay on the other hand could.
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I'm sure there are clauses in contracts relating to behaviour etc and disciplinary measures.
 
DubSpur said:
I'm sure there are clauses in contracts relating to behaviour etc and disciplinary measures.
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If they agreed to those clauses fair enough. But they'll have to prove it. Who decides what is offensive and what is a joke? How much did it effect the business? How much should they be fined?
 
braineclipse said:
No one is saying that they own you 24/7. But in some jobs certain things are expected both during work hours and outside of work hours.

Doesn't have to be illegal for a statement to be warranted.

If one of our players had said what that American footballer did (assuming we're talking about the same incident) I definitely would want the club to speak out, in public. And that would have course be well within their rights.
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Butker.
And, yes, I suppose I too would want the club to speak out and back the player up if it were a Spurs player who’d said that and then attracted ridiculous criticism. But I wouldn’t necessarily expect it.
 
JerusalemMan said:
Butker.
And, yes, I suppose I too would want the club to speak out and back the player up if it were a Spurs player who’d said that and then attracted ridiculous criticism. But I wouldn’t necessarily expect it.
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You apparently think the NFL shouldn't have said anything (unless in support). What exactly was it about their response you disagree with?
 
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