UEFA release official statement on Vini Jr and Gianluca Prestianni allegations

UEFA have issued a statement after Vinicius Jr accused a Benfica player of making a racist comment to him in Tuesday night's Champions League clash.

The Brazilian scored the only goal of the game in Real's first leg play-off win in Lisbon but was yellow carded shortly after due to an excessive celebration.

With the teams preparing for the game to resume with kick-off, Vini Jr sprinted over to the referee and claimed that he had been the subject of a racist remark from Gianluca Prestianni, who had his mouth covered with his shirt.

Official Francois Letexier activated anti-racism protocol and a 10-minute stoppage ensued.

Kylian Mbappe alleged that he heard Prestianni use the word "m****y" and called him UEFA to ban Prestianni, with the Argentine denying he used any type of racist language in a statement.

In a post on Instagram, the 20-year-old claimed Vinicius "regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard".

The game was delayed for around 10 minutes. Image: Getty

UEFA have responded, confirming that the reviewing of reports from Tuesday night's games is still ongoing. Any potential disciplinary sanctions will be announced on UEFA's official website.

"The official reports from the matches played last night are currently being reviewed," UEFA said.

"Where matters are reported, proceedings are opened and should they lead to disciplinary sanctions being imposed, they are announced on the UEFA disciplinary website.

"We have no further information to provide you or any further comment to make on this matter at this stage."

Vinicius has encountered racist abuse throughout his career and the incident led to him being struck on the shoulder by an object thrown from the stands.

Mourinho and Benfica court controversy for response

Trent Alexander-Arnold branded the incident a "disgrace to football", while Benfica boss Jose Mourinho disappointed fans with his Amazon Prime post-match interview as he addressed the situation.

The Portuguese revealed he told Vinicius that he did not celebrate in a respectful manner and that "the biggest person [Eusebio] in the history of this club was black".

He also revealed both players told him "different things" but that he wanted to "be an independent" regarding the matter.

But Benfica have also caused an almighty stir with their response to the allegations on social media. On X, the club shared footage from the stands of the moment the alleged comment and Vinicius approaching the referee.

In a comment, the club said: "As the images demonstrate, given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard."