Union chief on Prestianni at Benfica: Some lines can't be crossed | OneFootball

The president of the Players’ Union, Joaquim Evangelista, commented this Wednesday on the incident that involved Gianluca Prestianni and Vinicius Júnior in the match between Benfica and Real Madrid, part of the Champions League. The official explained that he sought to maintain a balanced position, without taking sides, although he emphasized a firm stance against any form of racism.

Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the presentation of the Golo project – “Football for the Community”, he stressed that he analyzed the case with caution: “Given that two players were involved, I took care to look at the evidence and to respect Vini in his personal goal celebrations and his freedom of expression, but also to respect Prestianni’s presumption of innocence. The truth is that we are still waiting for the conclusions.”

The official also revealed that he chose not to contact any of those involved in the episode directly, explaining his stance: “There are moments to speak and others to listen.” Even so, Joaquim Evangelista made a point of making his position on discriminatory behavior clear, reiterating a policy of absolute firmness.

“There are red lines that cannot be crossed and there must be a severe punishment. That does not mean that as president of the union, I am not on the players’ side to support them at that moment,” recalling that there have already been similar situations in which the organization “criticized the phenomenon in the same way.”

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