New Delhi: UEFA handed Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni a six-match ban for verbally abusing Real Madrid’s Vincius Junior during their Champions League fixture earlier this season. Three of those six games are suspended for a two-year period, and the ban also includes the one match Prestianni served as a provisional suspension in February.
Therefore, unless he triggers the suspended three-match ban, he will only actually be out for two further matches. UEFA said in a statement that the punishment was imposed for “discriminatory (i.e. homophobic) conduct.”
Vinícius accused the Benfica winger of racially abusing him during their playoff first leg, after which the match was stopped for 10 minutes in the second half. Vinicius netted the opening goal to give Real Madrid a 1-0 lead in the 50th minute of the match in Lisbon. The Brazilian was confronted by Prestianni after celebrating by the corner flag.
After the interaction with Prestianni, Vinicius ran towards the referee Francois Letexier while making a gesture towards the opposition player. He then made the crossed arms gesture, which was introduced by FIFA in May 2024, to signal racist abuse.
The Real Madrid forward walked off the pitch and was followed by his teammates. After the game, he wrote on his Instagram account: “Racists are, above all, cowards.” The Benfica winger would have faced a minimum 10-game ban from European competitions if he had been found guilty of racist abuse.
After the match, UEFA appointed an ethics and disciplinary investigator, and the probe that ended on Friday concluded that Prestianni’s conduct was anti-gay rather than racist.
Benfica issues statement
Benfica released a statement and said that the club has been notified by UEFA of the sanction imposed on Prestianni for using anti-gay language during the match against Real Madrid.
“The player Prestianni has been handed a six-match ban, three of which are suspended for two years. Of the three-match effective ban, one has already been served, and the remaining two must be served in UEFA matches or Argentina national team matches in a FIFA context,” the statement added.
The European football governing body has also made a request to FIFA to extend the ban worldwide.