UEFA have chosen to suspend Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni for the blockbuster Champions League knockout stage rematch between the Portuguese giants and Real Madrid at the Spanish capital. Prestianni was accused of racial abuse by Madrid winger Vinicius Jr and UEFA, suspecting that a protest or demonstration of sorts would be unleashed, have chosen to suspend the Argentine ahead of the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu. In the first leg, Vinicius scored the only goal of the game and celebrated. But after what seemed like a back-and-forth conversation between players, he was allegedly called a racial slur by Prestianni, an accusation that’s unclear because of the player pulling his shirt over his mouth. The match was suspended for ten minutes after the Brazilian immediately rushed to complain to the referee and was later backed by teammate Kylian Mbappe who confirmed that he had heard the Benfica player’s words. “Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 Knock-out Play-off match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026, 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 (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible for the prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) related to a discriminatory behaviour”. ALSO READ | Gianluca Prestianni admits of using anti-gay slur against Vinicius in the Champions League clash “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,” the UEFA statement read. The statement by UEFA is telling of what the European football body believes will happen in the return leg. A no-handshake policy, or intense opposition to Prestianni could have become the talking point of the game. But UEFA has attempted to stem that discourse with a suspension that is likely to be contested by Prestianni and Benfica. After the furore of the incident broke out, the Argentine denied the allegations made against him and said on his Instagram, “I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults at the player Vinicius Junior, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he thought he heard. I have never been racist and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
Vinicius Jr’s alleged racial abuser suspended for Real Madrid-Benfica return Champions League leg by UEFA
