Vinicius Junior accused Benfica winger Gianluca Prestiani of racial abuse after the Real Madrid star scored during Tuesday’s Champions League match.
Gianluca Prestiani covered his mouth while speaking (Image: Miguel Lemos/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)
Gianluca Prestiani’s representative has denied claims that the Benfica winger admitted to using a homophobic slur during an altercation with Vinicius Junior. Prestiani, 20, was accused of racism by Vinicius during Tuesday’s Champions League clash in Lisbon.
Immediately after scoring the only goal of the match, the match was suspended for 10 minutes as the Real Madrid star reported an incident. UEFA opened an investigation on Wednesday, and Prestiani was reported to have provided an explanation of the incident on Friday.
The Argentine player is said to have stated that he used an anti-gay slur against Vinicius, rather than “mono”, which means “monkey” in Spanish. However, his representative denied the statement.
“Everything that has been published about what Gianluca Prestianni said in the UEFA investigation is false,” Gaston Fernandes told Arabic website Win-Win in an interview. “No one has officially contacted us about possible sanctions in connection with this matter.”
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The agent added: “Following the statement from Benfica, we do not want to continue this matter. We have already made it clear that what happened is not what they have expressed or portrayed in relation to Gianluca. What is important for us now is to give the player peace of mind and calm.”
Benfica will resume play on Saturday night, hosting AVS. Manager Jose Mourinho, who came under fire for his post-match comments about Vinicius, did not hold a pre-match press conference.
Instead, Mourinho told Benfica’s TV station: “The game was really tough on all sides,” Mourinho told Benfica’s 1-0 defeat at Real on Wednesday.
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Jose Mourinho has not spoken to the media since Tuesday (Image: Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
“Up until the 50th minute, it was a game that showed maximum physical and tactical effort and the concentration required for a match of that level.
“But I must also admit that from the 51st minute until now, and this is not the end of the conversation, it has not been easy to emotionally control what happened and what is still happening. But we have an important game tomorrow and for our ambitions and dreams it is essential to win and we must try to concentrate and play at the highest level.”
Mourinho continued: “Luca[Prestiani]is suspended, but it is safe to expect[Fredrik]Arsnes to be suspended. So we have some hope that he will be able to play at Madrid. He is not fit to play tomorrow. We will do something, always remembering that the game is difficult and we have to win.”
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