If you thought we’d sorted the problem of racism in English football, think again.

If you have only a passing interest in the sport and believed it came only from xenophobic opposition fans and players, even more so. Because on Monday morning, the player by the .

He’d suggested in a YouTube interview in Uruguay that his team-mate, , was indistinguishable in looks from other South Koreans. That they all looked the same. The severity of his ban has sparked a sharp intake of breath.

His team, currently on a poor run of form, need the 27-year-old midfielder as he is returning to his best after spells out injured. His club, situated in a diverse area of north London, are known for their work to integrate communities and break down barriers.

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Bentancur’s offensive remarks were as much of a surprise as the FA’s welcome zero tolerance. We’ll get to the issues around their lack of consistency shortly. But Black and Brown participants and campaigners within the game have been pushing for punishments that send a message for years. Finally we are there.

We’ve watched, loved, marvelled at and been frustrated by football and all that is related to it for decades now. We’ve seen the game evolve from the dark ages of open abuse to a place where there is unity in the push to make it a space where we can operate.

Tottenham’s own charter explains it is “based on three core principles: treating everyone equally and fairly, respecting and valuing diversity”. How is it then, in 2024, we still have footballers casually coming out with the kind of thing fans would be furious about if they’d come from an opposition player or supporter?

A warning, this column is going to go into the details of what was said. It needs to in order to address the situation properly. Bentancur gave a TV interview in June while in Uruguay. In it, he was asked to provide a shirt belonging to a Spurs player. “Sonny’s?” Bentancur replied.

After questioning whether the journalist was asking about his Tottenham team-mate, Bentancur added: “Or one of Sonny's cousins as they all look more or less the same.” Bentancur would go on to give a private apology to Son, followed by a public show of contrition in which he wrote: “Sonny brother! I am sorry for what happened, it was a joke in bad taste. You know that I love you and would never disrespect you, or hurt you or anyone. I love you brother!”

Son revealed in September that he’d accepted the apology, adding: “I love Rodrigo. He knew and he apologised straight afterwards. We are all human and all make mistakes and we learn from them.”

And yet it is mystifying how a player at a diverse club whose players are active in the local community, working to break down barriers, could find himself in this position. Neither Bentancur nor Spurs could have been surprised when the FA charged him. This, finally, is a reaction with teeth.

The counter-argument is inconsistency. It is a legitimate charge against the FA. Ex- striker in 2021 over a social media post in which he used the offensive term "negrito".

forward in 2019 for a tweet in which he caricatured former team-mate . Let me tell you, neither of these two offences is any less egregious as Bentancur’s.

Only those who have never had to endure that kind of asinine garbage in the name of so-called banter will argue differently. Cavani and Silva should also have had the book thrown at them. FA rules published in 2020, only allow regulatory commissions to issue a ban below six games if an offence is "in writing only or via any communication device" and another specific mitigating factor is present.

This brings in Chelsea’s , who so reprehensible he was , Wesley Fofana. Two things here.

First, let’s end this ludicrous idea - propagated by individuals looking to get out of a tight spot rather than anyone with actual lived experience of the impact of racism - that if a team-mate doesn’t have a problem with racism then it isn’t the problem you think it is.

If you were sat in a bar Black or Brown friend and someone else referred to them as the N-word, would it be any less offensive if your friend didn’t have an issue with it? Newsflash: Racism is still racism, whether your mate is willing to pursue it or not.

In fact, the support of a team-mate who has been the subject of racism can never be a mitigating factor. Ever. It is a get-out-of-jail-free card, attempted by far too many clubs and individuals within football who themselves need educating.

It places the team-mate in an impossible position, just as it would the friend in real life. Tell the truth and be privately vilified by your mates and your club, or suggest you don’t have it issue so that the fire can be turned on the people from the outside correctly seeing the racism for what it is.

The other issue with Fernandez is this. The FA has a long history of taking on fights it knows it can win. It would presumably have explored the prospect of coming down hard on him, only to find that both the Chelsea midfielder would probably have gone nuclear legally on a technicality.

That can be the only explanation for their position that Fernandez’s offence occurred at the Copa America, therefore placing it under the auspices of FIFA, the world governing body, not, the English FA.

Fernandez is a Premier League player whose conduct was worthy of the same sanction as Bentacur. If not more. As it stands, it looks as though it pays - if you’re a Premier League or Championship player from abroad - to be racially offensive on international duty. The further away the better.

Because the Fernandez escape is a precedent. It leaves the FA wide open to the claim that for all their good work with Bentancur, they make it up as they go along. And it's a shame, because in this case, English football’s governing body deserves credit.

We all need to be on the same page when it comes to sending out the message that racist language will not be tolerated. Otherwise, as with now, there will be more questions than answers.

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