Tottenham Hotspur has filed an appeal against the length of the seven-game domestic suspension handed down to Rodrigo Bentancur for using a racial slur directed at teammate Son Heung-min. The club has described the punishment imposed by the Football Association as "severe."

Tottenham have accepted the guilty verdict handed down by an independent regulatory commission, which also imposed a £100,000 fine and ordered the player to participate in a mandatory in-person educational programme.

This followed his indictment by the Football Association (FA) in September, following comments he made while appearing on television in his home country of Uruguay in June.Bentancur, who denied the charge, is currently suspended from participating in domestic matches until 26 December.

As a consequence of this decision, he will be unable to participate in Premier League matches against Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea, among others, as well as Tottenham's Carabao Cup quarter-final against Manchester United. However, he will be eligible to play in Europa League matches.

The Uruguay midfielder will remain suspended from participating in domestic matches while the appeal is being considered.In its statement of charges against the Uruguay international, the FA cited alleged violations of FA rule E3 for misconduct in relation to a media interview.

The FA stated that this constituted an "aggravated breach" due to the inclusion of a reference, whether explicit or implicit, to the player's nationality, race, and ethnic origin.The commission stated that such a breach necessitates an immediate suspension of six to twelve matches.

In the media interview in question, asked by a presenter for a Tottenham shirt, Bentancur replied: "Sonny's? It could be Sonny's cousin too as they all look the same."

He later apologised on social media and said his comments were a "very bad joke".

Bentancur also said sorry to South Korea forward Son, who said he would "not mean to ever intentionally say something offensive".

Spurs said in a statement: "We can confirm that the club has appealed against the length of Rodrigo Bentancur's FA suspension, issued earlier this week.

"While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe."