Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni has been suspended by UEFA for Wednesday’s Champions League knockout play-off decider after allegedly racially abusing Vinicius Junior in the first leg last week.
A statement by the European governing body read: “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. Further information about this matter will be made available in due course.”
UEFA opened an investigation into Vinicius Jr’s allegations of racist abuse by Prestianni after the Brazilian had scored the only goal of the first leg in Portugal last Tuesday.
The incident saw the game stopped for eight minutes after the implementation of FIFA’s anti-racism protocol by match referee Francois Letexier.
European football’s governing body appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector, given the case is so high profile, to gather evidence from speaking to those involved.
Ten games is UEFA’s minimum length of suspension for racist conduct, and their guidelines state that such disciplinary sanctions should be accompanied by awareness programs run by the club.
