The UEFA provisionally suspended Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni on Monday for the decisive second leg of Champions League knockout phase playoff against Real Madrid after he allegedly racially abused Vinicius Junior in the first leg last week.
UEFA also clarified that the provisional one-match suspension is "without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation". Prestianni faces a minimum 10 match ban if he's found guilty of racially abusing Vinicius at the Estadio Da Luz on February 18. He had claimed that he hadn't racially abused Vinicius but used a homophobic insult instead.
Benfica will be looking to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg when they travel to the Santiago Bernabeu for the return leg of their UCL playoff on February 25.
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The incident occurred shortly after Vinicius scored the only goal in that game. Television footage showed an exchange between the Brazilian forward and Prestianni just ahead of the restart. The Argentinian is seen covering his mouth with his jersey and proceeds to say something to Vinicius, who reacts instantly and proceeds to alert the match officials.
Kylian Mbappe, in his post-match interview, insisted he had clearly heard racist abuse directed at Vinicius. "I heard it," Mbappe said after the game in Lisbon. "There are Benfica players that also heard it." Mbappe further stated that the alleged racial slur was repeated multiple times, intensifying scrutiny around the exchange.
Article 14 of UEFA's Disciplinary Regulations clearly states: “Any entity or person subject to these regulations who insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation, incurs a suspension lasting at least ten matches or a specified period of time, or any other appropriate sanction.”
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