Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min has said teammate Rodrigo Bentancur knows he “made a mistake” after making racist joke about him.
Bentancur was asked on Uruguayan TV for a Spurs player’s shirt, to which he replied: “Sonny’s? It could be Sonny’s cousin too, as they all look the same.”
Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out said it had received a “significant number” of complaints.
The Uruguayan midfielder apologised on social media, describing it as a “very bad joke”, with Son later saying the pair were “brothers” and “nothing has changed at all”.
Tottenham said in a statement: “We fully support that our captain Sonny feels that he can draw a line under the incident and that the team can focus on the new season ahead.
“We are extremely proud of our diverse, global fanbase and playing squads. Discrimination of any kind has no place at our club, within our game or within wider society.”
In the same post, the club quotes Son as saying: “I’ve spoken with Lolo (Bentancur). 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.”
Bentancur had previously posted: “Sonny brother! I apologise to you for what happened, it was just a very bad joke.”
Read more:
Hudson-Odoi ‘would confront racist fans’
The Tartan Army still have hope
Spurs’s Premier League season kicks off at newly promoted Leicester City on 19 August, followed by games against Everton, Newcastle and arch-enemy Arsenal.
Bentancur is currently preparing to represent Uruguay at this summer’s Copa America in the US, which starts on 20 June.