UEFA passed on Friday benfica‘S gianluca prestieni Six-match ban for anti-gay conduct real Madrid‘S Vinicius Junior during them Champions League matches in February, three of which were suspended for a period of two years.
This ban also includes the one match Prestiani was hit with as an interim suspension in February, so unless he serves the suspended three-match ban, he will actually only be sidelined for two further games.
Vinicius Accused Prestiani He was racially abused during the first leg of the playoff, leading to the match being stopped for 10 minutes in the second half.
Vinicius put Madrid ahead in Lisbon by scoring a 50th-minute goal – the only goal in a 1-0 win – and then came face to face with Prestiani after celebrating by the corner flag.
Prestiani could be seen talking to Vinicius while covering his mouth with his jersey, before the Brazil international waved him off and ran towards the referee.
Vinicius spoke to referee Francois Letexier, who made an “arms-crossed” gesture indicating that racist abuse had been charged.
However, sources told ESPN’s Bruno Andrade that the 20-year-old Argentine gave evidence saying he heard Vinicius call the anti-gay slur “m——” instead of “mono” in Spanish, which is Spanish for monkey.
UEFA appointed an ethics and disciplinary investigator after the match, and the investigation concluded on Friday that Prestieni’s conduct was anti-gay rather than racist.
UEFA said it had requested FIFA to extend the ban worldwide.
UEFA fined Benfica for racist abuse by fans in the same match last month.
Benfica acknowledged the ban in a statement on Friday.
“Sport Lisboa e Benfica announces that it has been informed by UEFA of the sanction imposed on the player Prestiani for using anti-gay language during the Benfica vs. Real Madrid match,” the team said.
“Player Prestiani has been handed a six-match ban, three of which are suspended for two years. One of the three-match effective ban has already been served and the remaining two must be imposed in UEFA matches or Argentina national team matches in the context of FIFA.”
Information from PA was used in this report.
