Benfica Deny Reports That Prestianni Admitted Racist Abuse Towards Vinicius Jr
Portuguese paper Correio da Manhã claimed Prestianni admitted calling Vinicius Jr a monkey. Benfica have hit back hard with an official denial.
A messy situation just got messier. Reports out of Portugal claimed Gianluca Prestianni privately admitted to teammates that he racially abused Vinicius Jr — but Benfica have come out swinging to deny the whole thing.
What the Portuguese Press Are Saying
Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manhã dropped a bit of a bombshell on the afternoon of 26 February, reporting that Prestianni had addressed his Benfica teammates and acknowledged calling Vinicius Jr a monkey during the first leg of their Champions League play-off tie against Real Madrid.
According to the report, the Argentine winger apparently tried to explain himself to the squad, insisting he’s not a racist and that he never intended to come across as one. Whether that went down well in the dressing room is anyone’s guess.
Where Things Stand With UEFA
This is all happening in the shadow of a UEFA provisional suspension that’s already been handed down to Prestianni. The governing body moved quickly earlier this week, banning him under Article 14 of their Disciplinary Regulations — the section that covers any insult to human dignity based on skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation.
Key points on the UEFA situation:
- The suspension kicked in before the second leg at the Bernabéu, meaning Prestianni couldn’t play
- Article 14 carries a minimum ban of ten matches for offences of this nature
- A full disciplinary process is presumably still ongoing
Benfica’s Categoric Denial
Benfica weren’t having any of it. At 6pm Portuguese time, the club put out an official statement going directly at the Correio da Manhã report.
The club stated that Prestianni had apologised to his teammates — not for making a racist comment, but for the incident itself and the chaos it’s caused. Their line is that he has maintained from the very start that he is not racist, and that no such admission was ever made to the squad or club staff.
In their words, Benfica “categorically deny” that Prestianni told anyone at the club he had racially insulted the Real Madrid forward.
The Bigger Picture
This is one of those situations where the truth is going to be difficult to pin down from the outside. You’ve got a Portuguese newspaper running a pretty serious claim, a club issuing a flat denial, and UEFA already having seen enough to slap a provisional ban on the player.
What’s clear is that:
- The incident during the first leg has had major consequences for Benfica’s Champions League campaign
- Prestianni, still only young, is now at the centre of one of the most serious cases European football has seen in recent memory
- Vinicius Jr, who has been subjected to racist abuse more times than any player should ever have to deal with, is again at the heart of an ugly controversy
However this plays out legally and disciplinarily, it’s another grim chapter in a story that really shouldn’t keep repeating itself.