Tottenham Hotspur's appeal to reduce the seven-match ban imposed on midfielder Rodrigo Bentancur has been dismissed by the Football Association.
The 27-year-old was given the suspension and a £100,000 fine in November for a racist remark about teammate Son Heung-min during an interview with a Uruguayan TV station.
Spurs accepted the judgement, but they decided to appeal against the severity of the suspension just two days later.
"While we accept the guilty finding against Rodrigo by the independent regulatory commission, we believe the subsequent sanction is severe," a club statement read.
However, the FA released a statement of their own on Tuesday confirming that Spurs' appeal has been rejected, meaning that Bentancur's ban will stand.
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Spurs discover result of Bentancur appeal
A statement from the FA read: "An independent appeal board has dismissed an appeal by Rodrigo Bentancur in relation to his recent suspension.
"An independent regulatory commission imposed a seven-match suspension on the Tottenham Hotspur midfielder for an aggravated breach of FA Rule E3 in relation to a media interview.
"This appeal was dismissed following a hearing and the seven-match suspension remains as ordered by the regulatory commission."
At the time of writing, Tottenham are yet to comment or post a fresh statement on their official website or social media platforms in response to the FA's decision to reject their appeal.
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What does this mean for Bentancur?
Bentancur has already served five of his seven-game suspension in domestic competitions, and as a result of Tottenham's rejected appeal, he will be banned for the club's next two such fixtures.
The Uruguayan midfielder will therefore miss Thursday's EFL Cup quarter-final clash between Spurs and Manchester United in North London.
Bentancur is also unavailable to represent the Lilywhites in Sunday's Premier League home encounter with leaders Liverpool.
However, Tottenham's No.30 will be able to return to Ange Postecoglou's side on Boxing Day when Spurs travel to Nottingham Forest for their penultimate top-flight fixture of 2024.
While Bentancur has watched on from the sidelines, Tottenham have won one, drawn two and lost two of their last five games in all competitions, ending a four-game winless run with a thumping 5-0 victory at Southampton in the Premier League last weekend.
Oliver Thomas
