GIANLUCA Prestianni will miss Benfica’s second leg knockout play-off match against Real Madrid following allegations of making a racist comment towards Vinicius Junior in the first leg of the tie.
The incident took place last week during the first leg of Benfica and Real Madrids knockout tie, where Vinicius Junior refused to keep playing after he accused Prestianni of racially insulting the Brazilian. Prestianni has strongly denied the allegations towards him, with UEFA provisionally suspending him whilst they investigate the situation further.
Benfica have stood strong with Prestianni, who has travelled with his teammates to Madrid for the tie despite his ban. The Portuguese side have appealed his suspension ahead of the game, but is unlikely that the decision will be made in time for their second leg tie and therefore not have any effect on the game.
UEFA appointed an independent ethics inspector to investigate the situation, who recommended the temporary one game ban for the Argentinian whilst the process is underway.
The investigator feels there is enough evidence to suggest Prestianni has broken the discriminatory rules set by UEFA, which carries a minimum ten-game ban, but there will still be a fair hearing before any punishment is given to Prestianni.
Vinicus Junior had opened the scoring for Real Madrid in the game and celebrated in front of the Benfica fans, which is when he and Prestianni had confronted each other, before the Benfica winger covered his mouth with his shirt before making a comment, which triggered the reaction of Vinicius Junior who brought the situation to the referees attention.
Referee Francois Letexier followed UEFA’s anti-racism protocol and temporarily suspended the game, with conversations taking place with both sets of coaching staff, including Jose Mourinho who was sent off after receiving two yellow cards.
Jose Mourinho has appeared to defend Prestianni in the media, arguing Vinicius Junior is partly to blame for provoking a reaction from everyone in the stadium.
He said:
“I told him, when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. This club, the last thing it is, is racist. A stadium where Vinicius plays, something always happens.”
Vinicus Junior said after the game: “Racists, above all, are cowards. They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are.”
