April 24, (THEWILL) — UEFA has sanctioned Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni with a six-match ban stemming from an incident involving Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during a Champions League play-off first leg in February.
The suspension is for homophobic conduct rather than racial abuse, which had been the basis of the original allegation.
Three of the six games are suspended for two years, and a match Prestianni already missed while held out provisionally before the reverse fixture in Madrid counts towards the total.
He is therefore barred from his next two UEFA competition games.
European football’s governing body has also submitted a request to FIFA to apply the ban on a global basis.
That would put Prestianni’s World Cup participation in jeopardy.
The Argentine only made his international debut in November and was included in Lionel Scaloni’s squad in March.
The incident occurred following Vinicius Jr’s goal in the second half of the Lisbon fixture on February 17.
Referee Francois Letexier crossed his wrists above his head to initiate FIFA’s racial abuse protocol, bringing the game to a halt for approximately eight minutes.
Benfica subsequently suspended five of their own club members for racist conduct during the same match.
Prestianni denied any wrongdoing on social media, claiming Vinicius Jr had misunderstood him. Benfica head coach Jose Mourinho suggested the incident had been provoked by the forward, comments criticised by anti-racism organisation Kick It Out and Bayern Munich manager Vincent Kompany.
Mourinho had earlier stated that Prestianni’s career at the club would be finished if the allegations were proven.
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.
