Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni handed provisional ban over Vinicius Jr racism incident in Champions League | OneFootball

Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni has been suspended for one game while Uefa investigates allegations that the 20-year-old racially abused Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr in their Champions League play-off first leg.

Prestianni was seen holding his shirt over his mouth during a heated exchange with Madrid players following Vinicius’s second-half goal. The Brazilian winger rushed to the referee to report what he claimed was racist abuse.

The French official, Francois Letexier, paused the match for 11 minutes after activating Fifa’s anti-racism protocols, but the action later continued with Prestianni on the field. Fans inside the Estadio Da Luz loudly booed and jeered Vinicius throughout the remainder of the game, as Real Madrid saw out a 1-0 victory.

Prestianni’s manager, Jose Mourinho, later blamed Vinicius for “inciting” Benfica’s players with his exuberant goal celebration, while Prestianni denied he had used racist language, claiming he had been misheard while using a homophobic slur.

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Gianluca Prestianni (right) was accused of racism by Vinicius Jr and Real Madrid players (AFP/Getty)

But Vinicius’s teammate, Kylian Mbappe said he had heard the offensive words, adding that he did not think Prestianni deserved to play in the Santiago Bernabeu, where Madrid will host Benfica for the second leg on Wednesday evening.

“There was player No 25 (Prestianni) from Benfica – I don’t want to mention his name, he doesn’t deserve it,” Mbappe said, “who started speaking rudely and saying insults. That’s unacceptable, but it happens in football and it will always happen.

“Then he put his shirt down here and said ‘monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey’. I heard him say it, and some Benfica players heard him too, and then everything you saw started.”

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Vinicius Jr (right) claimed he was racially abused by Gianluca Prestianni (AFP/Getty)

Now the Argentine will not be involved in the second leg after being handed a provisional one-match ban.

Uefa said in a statement: “Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour ... and upon request of the EDI with an interim report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today decided to provisionally suspend Mr Gianluca Prestianni for the next UEFA club competition match.

“This is without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies. Further information about this matter will be made available in due course.”

Mourinho has meanwhile cancelled his pre-match press conference ahead of the meeting in Madrid after coming in for severe criticism from across the football world.

Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany was particularly strong in his assessment that Mourinho had made a “huge mistake” blaming Vinicius for the incident.

“When you watch the action itself and how Vini reacted, that reaction cannot be faked,” Kompany said. “You can see it was an emotional reaction. I don’t see any benefit for him to go to the referee and put all this misery on his shoulders. In that moment he saw that it was the right thing to do.

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Jose Mourinho attempted to discuss the incident with Real's players (Getty)

“Kylian Mbappe normally always stays diplomatic, but he was very clear about what he saw and heard. Then there’s the Benfica player who was hiding what he was saying in his shirt. In the stadium you can see there were people [Benfica fans] doing monkey signs, it’s in the video.

“And for me, what happened after the game is even worse. Jose Mourinho has basically attacked the character of Vini Jr by bringing in the type of Vini’s celebration to discredit what he was doing at that moment. It was a huge mistake in terms of leadership.

“On top of that, Mourinho mentioned the name of Eusebio. He said Benfica cannot be racist because their best ever player was Eusebio. Do you know what Black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusebio every away game and see what he went through?”

Prestianni will now await the findings of Uefa’s investigation. Uefa’s disciplinary rules state that anyone found to have used insults on discriminatory grounds on issues such as a race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation “incurs a suspension lasting at least ten matches or a specified period of time, or any other appropriate sanction”.