The much anticipated UEFA Champions League match between Real Madrid and Benfica turned hostile after Madrid players decided to leave the pitch in the second half following an accusation of Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni directing a racist slur at Madrid winger Vinicius Jr.
The alleged incident occurred moments after Vinicius had curled Real ahead five minutes into the second half at the Estadio da Luz, before referee Francois Letexier halted the match for 11 minutes under FIFA’s anti-racism protocol by crossing his arms in front of his face.
Television pictures showed the Argentinian winger covering his mouth with his shirt before making a comment that Vinicius and nearby teammates interpreted as a racial slur against the 25-year-old, who has repeatedly suffered racism in Spain during matches.
“It is unbelievable that, with dozens of cameras in the stadium that none could have caught (Prestianni’s) racial slur, but if you cover your mouth to say something, that says a lot…” Real captain Federico Valverde told Movistar Plus. “According to my teammates who were close, they heard something very ugly. Many people have been fighting against racism in football, Vinicius is one of them. I’m proud of him and his great game.”
As the Brazilian celebrated, television pictures showed a heated exchange between him and Prestianni.
Real’s players threatened to leave the pitch as tensions rose, but the referee eventually allowed the match to resume.
Apart from Vinicius, striker Kylian Mbappe was enraged and didn’t want to come back to play. A TV footage showed an outraged Mbappe calling Prestianni “a bloody racist” to his face.
The atmosphere grew hostile after play resumed, with Vinicius and Mbappe loudly booed by the home crowd whenever they touched the ball. Towards the end part of the game, things were also thrown on the pitch including lighters and bottles. One such bottle hit Vinicius when he was standing on the sideline during a corner.
Mbappe said he had been prepared to leave the pitch but was persuaded by Vinicius to continue playing.
“We cannot accept that there is a player in Europe’s top football competition who behaves like this. This guy (Prestianni) doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore,” Mbappe told reporters.
Denying the accusation, Prestianni said the Brazilian misheard him.
“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard,” Prestianni wrote on his Instagram account.”I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
