UEFA has suspended Argentine midfielder, Giancula Prestianni, for Benfica’s crucial Champions League second leg play-off match against Real Madrid over an alleged racial abuse against Vinicius Jr.
The soccer body, in a released statement, held that Benfica’s Prestianni will miss the match to be held at the Santiago Bernabeu as its Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector, EDI, has begun an investigative process to unravel the incident which led to a 10-minute pause before action resumed.
“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,” UEFA statement reads in extract.
“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.”
The association expressed disgruntlement over the allegations made by Vinicius, as well as teammate, Kyllian Mbappe, both claiming the Argentine national used inappropriate words, linked to racism, during the Spanish side’s 1-0 first-leg win.
The Brazilian winger, after giving Real Madrid the lead, celebrated in front of the opposition fans after which he was booked. He was confronted by Prestianni who pulled his shirt up to his mouth before appearing to be saying something to the forward.
Vinicius then ran to the match referee, Francois Letexier, after which the latter took a long pause initiating the anti-racism slur aimed at curbing the illicit act.
Reports state that the suspended player could miss up to 10 games if found guilty of the act.
