UEFA Reveal Gianluca Prestianni Punishment With Provisional Ruling on Vinicius Jr Case

Prestianni and Vinicius Jr have provided conflicting sequences of events.

Gianluca Prestianni (left) allegedly directed a racial slur at Vinicius Junior. | Eric Verhoeven/Soccrates/Getty Images

Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni has been handed a one-match suspension from UEFA competitions while European soccer’s governing body continues to investigate the alleged racial exchange aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.

Prestianni has denied the allegations and Benfica are set to appeal the decision.

Vinicius Jr reported Prestianni to referee François Letexier during last Tuesday’s Champions League knockout playoff first leg in Lisbon shortly after scoring the only goal of the game. The Argentine forward covered his mouth before saying something to Real Madrid’s No. 7, who claimed that his opponent called him a “monkey.”

UEFA promptly opened an investigation to decipher if Prestianni breached Article 14 of the governing body’s Disciplinary Regulations. These rules read: “Any entity or person subject to these regulations who insults the human dignity of a person or group of persons on whatever grounds, including skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation, incurs a suspension lasting at least 10 matches or a specified period of time, or any other appropriate sanction.”

Rather than 10 matches, Prestianni has only been banned for one—Wednesday’s second leg against Real Madrid in the Spanish capital—as, in the eyes of UEFA’s Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector, there has been a “prima facie violation of Article 14.”

“Prima facie” is a legal term which means that a scenario is accepted to have merit based on the evidence provided at face value. This is essentially a way of UEFA taking some action before coming to a definitive conclusion.

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Full UEFA Statement

“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 Play-off 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 (1) 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 a discriminatory behaviour.

“This is without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies.”

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Benfica, Prestianni Protest Innocence

Vinicius Junior (left) took issue with a comment from Gianluca Prestianni. | Valter Gouveia/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images

This unexpected development has been poorly received in Portugal. Prestianni has maintained his innocence throughout, writing on Instagram shortly after the match: “I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults at 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.”

Benfica have taken an even more firm stance, insisting that their player has been the victim of a “defamation campaign.” The Portuguese giant released a brief statement in the aftermath of the provisional ruling which read: “The club regrets being deprived of the player while the process is still under investigation and will appeal this UEFA decision, even though the deadlines in question are unlikely to have any practical effect on the second leg of the Champions League playoff.

“Sport Lisboa e Benfica also reaffirms its unwavering commitment to combating all forms of racism or discrimination, values ​​that are part of its historical identity and are reflected in its daily actions, its global community, the work of the Benfica Foundation, and major figures in the club’s history, such as Eusébio.”

This reference to Eusébio, Benfica’s greatest player of all time who was born in Mozambique before representing the Portugal national team, echoes the bizarre explanation provided by manager José Mourinho immediately after the game.

“When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusébio] was Black,” Mourinho argued on the night. “This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.”

Kylian Mbappé is in no doubt about what he heard, reporting after the contest that Prestianni used the word “mono” (monkey) five times. Aurélien Tchouaméni later revealed that Prestianni told Vinicius Jr’s teammates that he had been misheard and had instead used a homophobic slur.

This version of events was rebuffed by Prestianni’s agent, who claimed earlier this week: “No one has officially spoken to us about the expected sanctions regarding this incident.”

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