Benfica winger, Gianluca Prestianni has reportedly denied racially abusing Vinícius Júnior, a forward for Real Madrid, by covering his mouth with his jersey during a Champions League encounter.
The referee started the anti-racism procedure, which is the customary process when a player claims they have been abused, and the Champions League playoff game at Benfica’s Stadium of Light was stopped for about ten minutes on Tuesday.
Benfica stood by Prestianni on Wednesday, saying that Madrid players who claimed to have heard the remark were too far away.
When Vinícius celebrated his goal in the 50th minute by dancing around the corner flag, Benfica supporters responded violently by hurling bottles and other items at the Madrid players. Then Prestianni went up to Vinícius and spoke, covering his mouth with his jersey.
Prestianni Denies Using Racial Words On Vinicius
“I have never been racist with anyone and I regret the threats that I received from Real Madrid players,” the 20-year-old Argentina forward, who faces a potential 10-match ban if found guilty of racial abuse in UEFA´s disciplinary code, said on X as reported by Goal.
Vinícius claimed that Prestianni had racially insulted him during the match, which Madrid won 1-0, and the European soccer governing body announced on Wednesday that it had assigned a special investigator to collect evidence. Madrid will host the second leg on February 25.
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After the match, Vinícius posted a photo on Instagram of him celebrating by the Benfica corner flag. He wrote: “Racists are, above all, cowards.
“They need to cover their mouths with their shirts to show how they are weak. … Nothing that happened today is new to me in my life and in my family´s life.
“I was shown a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don´t know why.”
The winner advances to the round of 16 in the elite championship for European club football.
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