UEFA has suspended Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni ahead of the UEFA Champions League play-off round match against Real Madrid for alleged racist insults towards Vinicus Junior.
UEFA appointed a special investigator on Wednesday to gather evidence about what happened in Lisbon in Madrid’s 1-0 win over Benfica in the first leg of the Champions League knockout round.
Vinicius accused Benfica’s Prestianni of calling him ‘monkey’ after the Brazilian scored the only goal. Prestianni was among the Benfica players angry with Vinicius after the striker was celebrated by the Benfica corner flag.
READ | What is the Prestianni Law and why is FIFA proposing it?
Prestianni covered his mouth with his shirt as he reportedly spoke to the Brazilian player and denied racially abusing Vinícius, who is black and has suffered repeated racial abuse in Spain fdsf2.
With input from AP
Published on February 23, 2026
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