Topics: Champions League, Football, Racism, Real Madrid, UEFA, Vinicius Junior, Benfica
UEFA has released a fresh statement detailing the next steps of the process after Vinicius Junior complained of alleged racist abuse directed towards him during Real Madrid’s Champions League play-off first leg against Benfica.
Despite Vinicius scoring a stunning goal to hand Los Blancos a one-goal advantage ahead of next week’s second leg, the Champions League clash was overshadowed by allegations of racist abuse.
After being booked for excessive celebrations, Vinicius became embroiled in an altercation with Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni.
The Brazilian then ran towards referee François Letexier, who brought the game to a halt, signalling that the anti-racism protocol had come into effect.
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The Real Madrid winger and his team-mates then left the field while the 25-year-old spoke to Benfica head coach José Mourinho before the game resumed after a 10-minute pause.
After the match, several players, including Kylian Mbappé and Trent Alexander-Arnold, discussed the matter, with the right-back describing the incident as a “disgrace to football”.
Exactly what was allegedly said remains unclear at this time.
Vinicius released a statement shortly after the match in which he described racists as “cowards”.
Translated from Portuguese to English, he wrote: "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put a shirt over their mouths to show how weak they are.
“But they have, beside them, the protection of others who, theoretically, have the obligation to punish. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my family’s life.
“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, there was only a poorly executed protocol that was of no use.
“I don’t like appearing in situations like this, especially after a great victory when the headlines should be about Real Madrid, but it is necessary.”
European football’s governing body, UEFA, then released a statement on Wednesday (18 February) morning and confirmed that “official reports from the matches played last night are currently being reviewed”.
Later on Wednesday, the governing body released a further statement detailing the next steps of the process.
“A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour,” the statement read.
Earlier on Wednesday, Prestianni denied the allegations in a post on his social media.
The Argentinian wrote: "I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard.
"I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players."
If found guilty of the offence, the 20-year-old could face a potential 10-game ban in line with Article 14 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations (racism and discriminatory conduct). A player can call upon UEFA’s Appeals Body and then the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), if they want to contest the sanction.
