European football governing body UEFA has provisionally suspended Benfica striker Gianluca Prestianni for Wednesday’s Champions League second-leg play-off against Real Madrid.
The decision follows allegations that Prestianni racially abused Madrid winger Vinicius Junior during last week’s first leg in Lisbon.
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UEFA confirmed that its Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector opened an investigation after Vinicius reported the incident.
Based on an interim report, the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body imposed a provisional one-match ban on Prestianni for discriminatory conduct under Article 14 of its regulations.
The governing body stressed that the suspension is temporary and does not prejudge the outcome of the case.
The alleged incident occurred shortly after Vinicius scored in the 50th minute and celebrated in front of Benfica supporters. Referee Francois Letexier halted the match for eight minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol.
Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe later claimed he heard Prestianni repeat a racist insult “five times,” alleging he called Vinicius a “monkey.” Prestianni denied the accusation on Instagram, stating that Vinicius had misunderstood him, a position publicly supported by Benfica.
Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho suggested Vinicius may have provoked the reaction, defending the club’s supporters and referencing Benfica legend Eusebio.
Mourinho’s remarks drew swift criticism. Anti-racism organisation Kick It Out described the comments as “gaslighting,” while Vincent Kompany, now Bayern Munich coach, labelled them “a huge mistake.”
Benfica later confirmed Mourinho would not address the media ahead of the second leg, with assistant João Tralhão stepping in for the pre-match press conference.
UEFA regulations stipulate a minimum 10-match suspension for racist conduct, typically accompanied by mandatory awareness programmes. If the allegations are upheld, Prestianni could face a significantly longer ban.
