Manchester United legend backs Vini Jr after racist abuse from Prestianni | OneFootball

Prestianni covered his mouth to call Vini Jr a monkey during Champions League match

Former player Rio Ferdinand, a Manchester United (ENG) idol, expressed his support this Wednesday (18) for Vini Jr, former Flamengo player. This is because the Real Madrid (ESP) forward suffered racism during a Champions League match on Tuesday (17).

See this photo on Instagram A post shared by Rio Ferdinand OBE (@rioferdy5)

The English football legend first mocks those who point to the Ninho academy graduate as the one to blame in the situation. Critics claim that Prestianni, from Benfica (POR), only called the Brazilian a monkey because the forward provoked the Benfica fans after scoring the goal.

— How are we still sitting here talking about racism when people try to justify it when someone says something racist? ‘Because it’s Vini’s fault. If Vini hadn’t done that, the guy wouldn’t have said that.’ I don’t accept it, we cannot accept this — highlighted Ferdinand in a video.

What else did Ferdinand say about racism against Vini Jr?

The former defender states that people like Prestianni take away the beauty of the sport. Thus, the commentator calls for authorities to be stricter, as one cannot try to justify “someone’s poor behavior, ignorance, stupidity.”

— Just because someone scored an incredible goal, a spectacular goal and celebrated it. Celebrations are part of the game. If in celebrations they’re going to start saying you can’t do this because you’ll get a yellow card… How many times do we love to see someone pull their shirt and say ‘It was me.’ They dreamed of this, of celebrating for the fans — he stated.

How did the attack happen?

Real and Benfica faced each other at Estádio da Luz, in Portugal, for the first leg of the Champions League playoffs. Then, Vini scored the only goal of the match and danced near the corner flag with the home team’s symbol.

The Benfica fans and players didn’t like it. Soon after, the referee gave a yellow card to the left winger for provocation, which irritated the Brazilian. During the commotion, the Argentine Prestianni called the forward a monkey, but received no punishment.

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