Prestianni of Benfica could face World Cup ban for racism at Vini Jr | OneFootball

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

On January 17, during the clash between Real Madrid (ESP) and Benfica (POR), Vini Jr was targeted with racist abuse by Gianluca Prestianni. Because of the racism, the Argentine player was punished by UEFA with a six-match suspension and, as a result, could end up missing the first two matches of the 2026 World Cup.

This is because FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee decided that the suspension handed to Argentine Gianluca Prestianni should have worldwide effect. Therefore, if the player is called up for the World Cup, he will miss the first two matches of the tournament. It is worth noting that the athlete was included in Lionel Scaloni’s squad for the March friendlies.

Will Prestianni have to serve the full six-match suspension?

No! The penalty imposed by UEFA was six matches, but three of them were suspended. In other words, the player will serve only a three-match suspension in international competitions, as long as he does not commit the same offense again within two years.

It is worth noting that Prestianni missed the second match against Real Madrid after being provisionally suspended by UEFA. Therefore, the Benfica player will only have to serve two more matches of suspension before being eligible to play again.

What happened between Prestianni and Vini Jr?

Real Madrid beat Benfica 1-0 in the first leg of the Champions League playoffs, in a match marked by Prestianni’s racial insult toward Vini Jr. The incident happened early in the second half, when the former Flamengo player scored a great goal and started arguing with the Argentine after celebrating.

After the ‘barbs were exchanged’, Vini Jr reported the racial insult to referee Benoît Bastien, who activated the anti-racism protocol and stopped the match for ten minutes in Lisbon. Later, Real Madrid formally filed a complaint with UEFA, submitting evidence of what had happened.

During the proceedings, Prestianni admitted using the term “maricón”, but denied the racial insult “mono” reported by Vinícius Júnior. Despite denying racism, UEFA used the confession of the homophobic insult to classify the Argentine under “discriminatory conduct”.

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