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UEFA has provisionally suspended Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid following allegations that he used racist language directed at Vinícius Júnior during last week’s first-leg encounter.
The incident reportedly occurred after Vinícius scored the only goal in Madrid’s 1-0 victory over Benfica. Vinícius accused Prestianni of directing a racist insult at him, while Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappé also stated he heard the alleged abuse. The confrontation followed Vinícius’ goal celebration near the Benfica corner flag, which reportedly upset some Benfica players, including Prestianni.
According to sources cited by ESPN, Prestianni admitted to UEFA that he had used an “anti-gay” slur rather than a racial insult. UEFA has now suspended him from the second leg pending the outcome of its investigation. If found guilty of racial abuse under UEFA’s disciplinary code, Prestianni could face a ban of up to 10 matches.
In a statement, UEFA said:
*”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 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 discriminatory behaviour.
This decision is without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation. Further information about this matter will be made available in due course.”*
