Benfica winger, Gianluca Prestianni provisionally suspended by UEFA after allegedly racially abusing Vinicius Junior

 

 UEFA has provisionally suspended Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni for Wednesday's Champions League match against Real Madrid following allegations that he used racist language directed at Vinícius Júnior in last week's first leg.

Vinícius accused Prestianni of directing a racist insult at him after Vinícius scored a goal in Madrid's 1-0 win over Benfica.

Prestianni was among the Benfica players upset with Vinícius after the forward celebrated by the Benfica corner flag. Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappé also said he heard the abuse. Prestianni had admitted to UEFA that he used an "anti-gay" slur rather than a racist one, sources told ESPN

He will now sit out of the second leg between the sides, pending a UEFA investigation, where he could he banned for up to 10 games if he is found guilty of racial abuse in UEFA's disciplinary code.

 

A UEFA statement read: "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 Playoff 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.

 

"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."