Portuguese Government opens investigation into alleged racist insult against Vinicius | OneFootball

Following the deplorable incident on Tuesday night when Real Madrid superstar Vinicius Jr. was targeted with racist abuse by Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni in Lisbon, the Portuguese Government has decided to step in.

The incident occurred around ten minutes into the second half, soon after Vinicius had scored a wonder-goal to give Real Madrid the lead in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League knockout playoff tie.

Covering his mouth with his shirt, Prestianni said something, sparking instant reaction from Vinicius, who ran to the referee and informed that he was racially abused, leading to the game being halted for ten minutes.

After the match, Kylian Mbappe confirmed that Prestianni had called Vinicius ‘mo*key’ on as many as five occasions – something that the Argentine youngster and Benfica continue to deny.

Portuguese Government steps in

UEFA have already announced that they will be investigating the unsavoury incident that took place at Estadio da Luz. Now, the Portuguese Government has stepped in to investigate the matter.

Vinicius was racially abused by a Benfica player. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)

Through the Authority for the Prevention and Fight against Violence in Sport (APCVD), it will assess whether there was indeed a verbal racist attack by the Benfica player against Vinicius.

In a brief statement published on its official website, the state body declared:

“Following reports in the media regarding alleged insults/acts of racism directed at Real Madrid player Vinicius Jr. during the match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF, corresponding to the first leg of the UEFA Champions League play-off, held at the Estadio da Luz, a competition organised by UEFA, the Authority for the Prevention and Fight against Violence in Sport (APCVD) has initiated administrative sanction proceedings to clarify the facts.”

Should the investigation conclude that the allegations are substantiated, both the club and the player could face sanctions ranging from financial fines to the referral of the report to the country’s judicial authorities, as has occurred in previous cases.

Source: AS