Kompany: Mourinho made a big mistake in Vinicius racism row | OneFootball

Vincent Kompany criticized the way José Mourinho handled the racism controversy involving Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior, stating that the Benfica coach’s comments after the midweek Champions League match were a “big mistake.”

The Brazilian Vinicius accused Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni of racist insults during Real’s 1-0 win in Lisbon on Tuesday, telling the referee he had been called a “monkey” during an argument with the Argentine.

After the match, Mourinho criticized Vinicius for inciting Benfica players and fans with his celebration following the winning goal in the first leg of the playoff knockout stage. UEFA stated that it will investigate “allegations of discriminatory behavior.”

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Bayern Munich coach Kompany, reflecting on his own past experiences with racism as a player, said that what bothered him most was what happened off the field.

“We have the leader of an organization, José Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinicius Junior by promoting this kind of celebration. To discredit what Vinicius is doing at this moment,” Kompany told reporters on Friday.

“And for me, in terms of leadership, it’s a huge mistake and something we should not accept.”

Kompany said that talking about Vinicius’s celebration should not distract from the player’s immediate response to Prestianni’s statements, which showed genuine emotional distress.

“We have Vini Jr., whose reaction, when you watch the footage, cannot be faked. You can see it. His reaction is emotional. I don’t see any benefit for him to go to the referee and carry all that suffering on his shoulders,” Kompany said.

“There is absolutely no reason for Vini Jr. to do that, and he does, and when he does, I think in his mind he’s doing it because it’s the right thing to do at that moment.”

Hard to Prove

However, Kompany stated that it would be difficult to prove the allegations of racist abuse against Prestianni unless the player admitted to it.

“You have a player (Prestianni) who is hiding what he’s saying in his shirt… You have a player who complains, you have a player who says he didn’t do it, and I think that unless the player himself comes forward, it’s difficult, it’s a complicated case,” said the Belgian.

Despite the criticism, Kompany said he hoped the situation could still lead to accountability and growth. If Prestianni really used racist language, he said, there should be room for an apology and for disciplinary bodies to consider remorse.

“If it’s true that the Benfica player said something as bad as was claimed, I would like there to be a situation where he could apologize and say: ‘Sorry, I made a mistake.’

That also influences the sentence, which should be A or B. But if you admit you made a mistake, there should also be the opportunity to say: ‘Hey, nobody’s perfect.’”

Returning to Mourinho, Kompany said he had “never heard anyone speak ill” of him and that he would not judge the Portuguese coach based on the incident at Estádio da Luz.

“He made a mistake. I hope it doesn’t happen again in the future and that we can move on and grow.”

*By AFP.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.