UEFA has temporarily suspended benfica‘S gianluca prestieni For Wednesday’s Champions League match real Madrid After allegations that he used racist language Vinicius Junior In the first phase last week.
Vinicius accused Prestiani of hurling racist insults at him after Vinicius scored in Madrid’s 1–0 win over Benfica.
Prestiani was among the Benfica players angry at Vinicius after the forward celebrated a Benfica corner flag. real madrid teammates klian mbappe Also said they heard abuse. Sources told ESPN that Prestiani had admitted to UEFA that he had used an “anti-gay” slur rather than a racist one.
He will now sit out the second leg between the two sides pending a UEFA investigation, where he could be banned for up to 10 games if found guilty of racial abuse. uefa disciplinary code.
A UEFA statement said: “Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour. 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 together with an interim report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today decided to provisionally suspend Mr Gianluca Pristiani for the next (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise have been suspended within the meaning of the first paragraph of Article Will be eligible for visual violation. 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) deal with discriminatory behaviour.
“This is without prejudice to any decision that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may give following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies. Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course.”
According to UK Practical Law, prima facie this means that the burden of proof must be sufficient to make the presumption true.
“Sport Lisboa e Benfica has been informed of UEFA’s decision to impose a temporary suspension of one match on its player Gianluca Prestiani as part of the ongoing investigation into the incident that occurred during the match against Real Madrid,” Benfica said in a statement.
“The Club regrets having to deprive the player while the process is still under investigation and will appeal this decision to UEFA, even though the time frame in question is unlikely to have any practical impact on the second leg of the Champions League playoff.
“Sport Lisboa e Benfica 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 key figures in the club’s history such as Eusébio.”
Information from ESPN’s Bruno Andrade and Alex Kirkland contributed to this report.
