UEFA has imposed a provisional ban on Gianluca Prestianni of Portuguese record champions Benfica Lisbon.
23.02.2026, 16:53
23.02.2026, 16:59
SDA
The Argentinian is alleged to have racially insulted Real's Brazilian Vinicius Junior in the first leg of the Champions League play-off and will now miss the second leg.
According to a UEFA statement, there is "suspicion of a violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations in relation to discriminatory behavior". At the same time, UEFA emphasized that the investigation is still ongoing.
The incident occurred on Tuesday last week. After scoring the goal to win 1:0 and celebrating afterwards, Vinicius Junior was allegedly racially insulted, according to his own statements and those of his French team-mate Kylian Mbappé. Prestianni is said to have called the Brazilian a monkey. The Argentinian denies the allegations. In the scene, he had pulled his shirt over his mouth. Benfica announced that they would take legal action against the suspension.
