\u25cb<\/span>On the afternoon of February 26, Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported that Gianluca Prestianni admitted within the team that he had called Vinicius Junior a “monkey” during the first leg of the playoffs. However, Benfica denied this version through an official statement. Following the information reported by a Portuguese newspaper, the Argentine footballer reportedly laid out several arguments to his teammates to explain what happened, according to his version of events, and claimed that he did not consider himself a racist and never intended to be one.<\/p>\nIt should be remembered that last Monday, UEFA announced Prestiani’s provisional suspension, which means he will not be able to take part in the match at the Bernab\u00e9u. This precaution is based on article 14 of the continental football’s top body’s disciplinary regulations, which states: “Any organization or person subject to this regulation who insults the human dignity of an individual or group for any reason, including colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, sex or sexual orientation, shall be subject to a suspension of at least 10 matches or a specified period or other appropriate sanction.”<\/p>\n
Benfica categorically denies<\/h2>\n
The reaction from the Portuguese club came quickly, with Benfica releasing a statement at 6pm Portuguese time denying such reports and defending that the player had never made any racist remarks.<\/p>\n
Benfica flatly deny that Prestiani told the team or club organization that he had made a racist insult towards Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior. As previously announced, the player apologized to his team-mates for the incident against Real Madrid, deploring its scale and consequences and affirming, as he has done from the beginning, that he is not a racist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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