Benfica have denied reports that Gianluca Prestiani admitted to his team-mates that he had made a racial insult towards Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior.
Portuguese media had reported that the 20-year-old had committed a crime against his fellow players at Benfica, but the club strongly denied this.
“Sport Lisbon and Benfica categorically deny that Prestiani has communicated to the team and the club organization that he has made racist insults towards Real Madrid player Vinicius Junior,” the statement said.
“As previously announced, the player apologized to his team-mates for the incident that occurred during the match against Real Madrid, deplored the scale and consequences of it and assured everyone, as he has done since the first hour, that he is not a racist.”
Vinicius Jr. initially refused to allow the first leg of the Champions League knock-out tournament between the two sides to take place on March 17 following the Prestiani incident.
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Sky Sports News’ Kabe Solgecol reacts to the news that Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni will be suspended for the Champions League second leg against Real Madrid.
The Madrid forward had just given his team the lead. Later, during a celebration in front of the Benfica fans who had been reserved, when he was confronted by Prestiani, Prestiani pulled up his shirt to cover his mouth and said something to the Madrid forward.
Vinicius Jr. ran and spoke to match referee François Letexier, who immediately stopped the match. In response, the referee crossed his arms in front of his face, invoking FIFA’s anti-racism rules and temporarily halting the match.
UEFA launched an investigation into allegations of “discriminatory conduct” after the game in Lisbon, and Prestiani was handed a one-match ban, including the second leg at the Bernabéu.
Benfica appealed the suspension and Prestiani traveled to Madrid to train with the team. However, the appeal was dismissed hours before Wednesday’s game.
Real Madrid won 3-1 on aggregate and advanced to the last 16. Aurélien Choameny said the result was a “victory for everyone fighting against racism”.
Gianluca Prestiani arrives in Madrid with the Benfica team (Credit: Benfica)
Mourinho criticizes handling of incident
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho did not speak to the media before or after Wednesday’s second leg, meaning his sending off in the first leg meant he did not have to carry out his usual media duties.
This comes after the former Real Madrid manager was widely criticized for questioning Vinicius Junior’s goal celebration and appearing to defend Prestiani and the club.
“I told him that when you score a goal like that, you just celebrate and go home. They[Vinicius Junior and Prestianni]told me different, but I don’t believe in either side. I want to be independent,” Mourinho told Amazon Prime after the first leg.
“When he was discussing racism, I told him that the greatest person in the history of this club (Eusebio) is black. This club is not racist.”
Mourinho spoke to Vinicius Junior after the incident during the first leg of the Champions League knock-off.
Mourinho then appeared to comment on a previous incident in which Vinicius Junior was subjected to racist abuse at the stadium.
The Brazilian player has repeatedly spoken out against the racism he has faced inside stadiums. In June 2024, in the first ruling of its kind in Spain, three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for racial abuse during a La Liga match the previous year.
“It happens in every stadium, so there’s something wrong with it,” Mourinho said. “Something always happens in the stadium where Vinicius plays.”
A member of Benfica’s coaching staff was shown a red card during the extended stoppage after Mourinho was seen speaking to a visibly upset Vinicius Junior. After numerous discussions between players, coaches and referees, the match was restarted.
Real Madrid went on to win, but there was another slight delay late in stoppage time when a fan threw an object at Vinicius Junior as he tried to take a corner kick.
Vinicius Junior scores in the second leg against Benfica to round off Real Madrid’s victory
“Prestiani will be suspended for 10 games”
Kaveh Solhekol of Sky Sports News:
UEFA moved very quickly to suspend Prestiani. They appointed an ethics inspector last Wednesday to investigate allegations that Prestiani had racially abused Vinicius Jr. the night before.
The inspector has already consulted with relevant parties and submitted an interim report to UEFA’s disciplinary body, recommending that Prestiani be suspended for one match while disciplinary proceedings continue.
The inspector believes there is prima facie evidence that Prestiani breached UEFA’s regulations on discriminatory conduct, which imposes a suspension of at least 10 matches.
UEFA said the provisional suspension would not cause any harm and Prestiani could expect a fair hearing.
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Manager Aurélien Choameny praised Vinicius Junior’s performance against Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League play-offs, where he was accused of racial abuse.
Vinicius Jr. “Racists are cowards”
“Racists are cowards above all,” Vinicius Jr. wrote in Portuguese on his Instagram Story after the first leg.
“They have to put their shirts over their mouths to show how weak they are.
“But they have on their side the protection of others that they are theoretically obligated to punish. What happened here today was not new in my life or in the lives of my family.
“I got a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t know why. On the other hand, it didn’t help anything, it was just executed inappropriately.
“I don’t like appearing in situations like this, especially after a great victory and when the headlines have to be about Real Madrid, but it’s necessary.”
Vinicius Jr. spoke to referee François Letexier after Benfica’s Gianluca Prestiani appeared to make a comment towards him.
In a statement in Portuguese on Instagram shared by Benfica on social media, Prestiani denied making any racist comments.
He wrote: “I want to make it clear that I never directed any racist insults at Vini Jr. He unfortunately misunderstood what he thought he heard.
“I have never been racist towards anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
Benfica posted footage of the incident on X, commenting: “As the image shows, given the distance, there is no way that the Real Madrid players did not hear what they claim to have heard.”
Mbappe explains what he heard
Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe said in a post-match interview in Lisbon that he had heard Prestiani committing racial abuse towards his teammates and said the Benfica winger should not be allowed to play in the Champions League.
“I know everything,” the France international said after the match. “I’ll explain everything that happened.
“Vinicius scores a goal. It’s a great goal. He goes dancing and people boo him. That happens a lot in football. Then there’s a tense moment with the Benfica players. It’s better not to happen, but things like this can happen.”
“This is the Champions League, the best competition in the world for clubs, so it’s normal for people to want to win, to do what’s best for the club and the fans and to protect their colours.
“Then Benfica’s No. 25 – I don’t want to mention his name because he doesn’t deserve it – started calling me names. It’s not acceptable, but it happens in football and will continue to happen.”
“He put his shirt over here (over his mouth) and said five times that Vinicius is *****. I heard it, some Benfica players heard it too. And from that moment everything you have seen started.”
“I want to explain this calmly. I don’t want to speak in general terms. I’ve been to Portugal many times. Fortunately, I have many teammates and friends from Portugal, and nothing has ever happened to me.”
“When it comes to things like this, it’s very important to speak in a very clear way and not to speak in general, because there are people who have done nothing wrong. I think there are 70,000 people in the stadium who have done nothing wrong. They just wanted to support their team.”
“I have the utmost respect for Benfica and one of the best coaches of all time who has made history at Real Madrid.
“But for me this player doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore.
“It’s great to play in the Champions League. It’s the best competition. Everyone here, all the journalists, love the Champions League, right? The Champions League inspires me as a player, it inspires people, it inspires children. And we have to set the best possible example for young people.”
“If something like this were to happen, I think all the values of football would be worthless. I think everything that we believe is worthless is worthless. We have to do something.”
Vinicius Jr.’s history of racism
Vinicius Jr. has previously spoken out about the repeated racist abuse he has suffered, saying in 2024 that he felt “even less willing to play football” because of the abuse.
That same year, three Valencia fans were sentenced to eight months in prison for racially abusing them during a match in May 2023, but the match was stopped for 10 minutes after Vinicius Junior alerted the referee to a fan who appeared to have been abusive, in scenes reminiscent of the match against Benfica.
After the match, the Brazilian said La Liga “belongs to racism.” But La Liga president Javier Tebas hit back, saying Vinicius Junior’s abuse was “manipulated”. Tebas later apologized for these comments.
Three supporters in Valencia were also fined €5,000 (£4,681) and banned from sporting venues for a year for racist behavior. Valencia were fined 27,000 euros (£23,581) and their stadium was partially closed for three matches.
Since then, Spain has continued to punish supporters of Vinicius Jr. for racist abuse. Four people were convicted of hanging a statue bearing his name on a Madrid motorway bridge in early 2023.
Three of them were sentenced to seven months in prison for hate crimes and intimidation, and another was sentenced to 15 months in prison for sharing the images online.
All four must complete an anti-discrimination training program in order to receive their suspended sentences, as well as being fined €60,000 and banned from sporting venues for two years.
And just last year, five Real Valladolid fans were found guilty of racially abusing Vinicius Jr. during a 2022 match. They were sentenced to one year in prison and fined up to €1,620 (about £1,412), but the sentence was suspended only if they did not attend a football match for three years.
