Official: Gianluca Prestianni hit with six-match ban by UEFA over Vinicius incident

Official: Gianluca Prestianni hit with six-match ban by UEFA over Vinicius incident

Gianluca Prestianni has been handed a six-match suspension by UEFA following his incident with Vinicius Jr. during the first leg of the Champions League knockout play-off between SL Benfica and Real Madrid in Lisbon.

During the game, moments after Vinicius had found the back of the net, Prestianni, covering his mouth, said something towards the Brazilian, which sparked a strong reaction from the player and his Real Madrid teammates.

Vinicius complained to the referee claiming that the Argentine had called him a ‘m**key’, leading to the match official activating the anti-racism protocol and the match getting halted for some time.

After the match, the Brazilian declared in public that he was racially abused and was backed by Kylian Mbappe, while receiving widespread support from across the globe.

Prestianni, for his part, maintained that he had not hurled racist abuse at the 25-year-old and claimed that he had insulted him with a homophobic slur.

Six-match ban for Prestianni

Now, UEFA has suspended the Benfica player for six matches for insulting Vinicius.

However, the punishment has not been imposed for alleged racist abuse, but for homophobic insults, which the player admitted making.