Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni has been suspended by UEFA following the racism row that engulfed Real Madrid’s recent victory over Benfica.
Last week’s Champions League playoff was stopped for 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr. claimed that he had been targeted by a remark from Prestianni. Vinicius initially refused to play on but was eventually convinced to return to the pitch with the rest of the Real Madrid team.
The incident took place after Vinicius had scored what turned out to be the winning goal, lashing into the top corner in the second half.
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He danced in front of the Benfica fans before reporting the alleged racist remark to the referee, who responded by activating UEFA’s anti-racism protocol.
Prestianni has denied the allegation, claiming that he must have been misunderstood, while Benfica have publicly supported him.
Following the match, UEFA said it would investigate the allegations of racism made against Prestianni. They have since issued a provisional one-match ban, meaning the 20-year-old won’t be able to face Real Madrid in the second leg.
In a statement, the governing body said: “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 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.”
