Vinicius Jr Claims Racism in Benfica vs Real Madrid

Real Madrid’s Champions League knockout play-off at Benfica was temporarily halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr alleged he was racially abused by Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni.

The incident occurred shortly after Vinicius scored and celebrated in front of Benfica fans, for which he received a yellow card. Prestianni reportedly lifted his shirt over his mouth and made a comment to Vinicius, prompting the Brazilian forward to approach referee Francois Letexier. The referee activated FIFA’s anti-racism protocol, stopping the match.

Vinicius later posted on Instagram: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts over their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are… Nothing that happened here today was new in my life and my family.”

Benfica and Prestianni denied the allegations. Prestianni said, “I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vinicius Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard.” Benfica also posted a video of the incident, calling the claims a “defamation campaign.”

Real Madrid striker Kylian Mbappe said he and other Benfica players heard the alleged abuse: “He put his shirt here [over his mouth] to say Vinicius is a ****** five times… For me, this player doesn’t deserve to play in the Champions League anymore.”

Benfica coach Jose Mourinho suggested Vinicius provoked the exchange with his celebration, a comment criticised by anti-racism charity Kick It Out, which accused him of “gaslighting”.

UEFA has appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate the allegations.

Real Madrid won 1-0, but the match saw multiple delays, including objects thrown at Vinicius during stoppage time.