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Europe’s football governing body, UEFA, has moved to provisionally suspend Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni for one match following accusations he racially abused Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior in their Lisbon fixture last week.
The decision means Prestianni will miss Wednesday’s second leg of the Champions League playoff round, set to be played in Los Blancos’ Santiago Bernabeu stadium.
Madrid won the first leg 1-0 at Benfica’s Estádio da Luz last Tuesday, after Vinícius opened the scoring five minutes into the second half. The Brazilian winger then celebrated his goal with a dance at the corner flag in front of Benfica supporters, frustrating the Portuguese team’s players.
‘Provoked’ into racist slur?
Vinícius was booked for his celebration which was regarded by the referee as intentionally provocative to Benfica fans. As players made their way back to the centre circle for kick-off, the incident between Prestianni and Vinícius occurred.
Prestianni was captured on camera speaking to Vinícius while covering his mouth with his shirt. The Real Madrid superstar did not appear to hear the Argentine footballer’s remarks early on, but then quickly turned to him, displaying outrage and ran to the referee.
Vinícius complained that Prestianni had allegedly called him a “monkey”, prompting French referee François Letexier to immediately cross his arms, displaying an X symbol, activating UEFA’s anti-racism protocol.
The match was halted for nearly 10 minutes as the referee consulted with officials operating the VAR (Video Assistant Referee) systems to review the incident. Prestianni was not immediately reprimanded as officials could not verify what he said due to his mouth being covered.
The Benfica winger has however denied racially insulting Vinícius.
French international and Real Madrid striker, Kylian Mbappé said he also heard Prestianni call Vinícius a “monkey”. In a post-match interview, the French superstar called on UEFA to permanently ban the Benfica player, who he refused to name, from ever playing in the Champions League again.
“The Champions League is Europe’s top competition” said Mbappé “racism should not be tolerated and has no place here,” he continued.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said after the match he was “shocked and saddened to see the incident of alleged racism” and praised the referee for activating the anti-racism protocol.
Benfica stands by its man
Benfica showed support to its player following the incident, in a statement after the match claiming Madrid players who said they heard the insult were too far away to actually hear it. It also said it welcomed UEFA’s investigation.
The club noted that it “fully supports and believes the version” presented by Prestianni “whose conduct while with the club has always been guided by respect” towards everyone.
Benfica will now travel to Madrid for the second leg fixture, trailing a goal, missing its starting forward and also without manager José Mourinho on the sidelines. The Portuguese manager was suspended after receiving a red card late in the first leg for arguing with the referee.
UEFA said its investigation into the incident between Prestianni and Vinícius is still ongoing. Benfica said it would appeal its player’s suspension even though it likely will not have any “practical impact” given the late announcement.
Additional sources • AP