February 18, (THEWILL) — FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, condemned the alleged racist abuse directed at Real Madrid forward, Vinicius Junior, during Tuesday night’s UEFA Champions League clash with Benfica in Lisbon.
The incident took place after Vinicius Jr scored the only goal in a 1-0 victory at the Estádio da Luz. Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni allegedly called the Brazilian a “monkey”, a claim supported by testimony from team-mates Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni. Prestianni reportedly covered his mouth with his shirt before making the remark, which could complicate UEFA’s efforts to gather concrete evidence.
“I was shocked and saddened to see the incident of alleged racism towards Vinicius Junior in the UEFA Champions League match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF,” Infantino said on Wednesday. “There is absolutely no room for racism in our sport and in society—we need all the relevant stakeholders to take action and hold those responsible to account.”
Referee, François Letexier, activated UEFA’s anti-racism protocol during the match, pausing play to address the situation. UEFA confirmed it is reviewing what occurred and will determine whether disciplinary sanctions are warranted.
Under Article 14 of UEFA’s Disciplinary Regulations, any player found to have insulted the human dignity of another person on grounds including skin colour or race faces a suspension of at least 10 matches.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
