Gianluca Prestianni temporarily sidelined for Benfica’s return match against Real Madrid.
UEFA has temporarily suspended Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni for the Champions League match against Real Madrid on Wednesday, following the incident involving Vinícius Júnior in the first leg last week.
Vinícius alleged that Prestianni directed racist remarks towards him during the match, which led to a 10-minute pause as the referee activated anti-racism protocols.
Kylian Mbappé, a teammate of Vinícius, also reported hearing the derogatory comments, while Prestianni has since acknowledged to UEFA that he used an “anti-gay” slur instead of a racial one, sources informed ESPN.
As a result, he will miss the second leg between the teams, pending a UEFA investigation, which could result in a ban of up to 10 matches if he is found guilty of racial abuse under UEFA’s disciplinary regulations.
A UEFA statement indicated: “Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to examine allegations of discriminatory conduct during the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 Knock-out Playoff match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026, and at the request of the EDI with an interim report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) has decided to provisionally suspend Mr. Gianluca Prestianni for the next (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible due to a prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) concerning discriminatory behaviour.
“This is without prejudice to any decision that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may later reach following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies. Additional information regarding this matter will be provided in due course.”
Prima Facie indicates that the evidence must be sufficient to establish the assumption as true, according to UK Practical Law.
Contributions to this report were made by ESPN’s Bruno Andrade and Alex Kirkland.
