Soccer Player Suspended For Alleged Racist Remark

Trash-talking is a rite of passage when it comes to professional sports, but things always go left when someone goes too far.

The latest instance was at the Champions League playoff game between Real Madrid and Benfica that took place at Lisbon’s Estádio da Luz. Real’s Kylian Mbappé claims he overheard a player make racially charged comments to his teammate Vinícius Júnior.

Controversy began when Junior scored the game’s only goal at the 50-minute mark, and shortly after, a video shows Gianluca Prestianni, in the opposing red kit, covering his mouth with his jersey before mouthing something.

A shocked Júnior immediately runs over to the referee and tells him something while pointing in Prestianni’s direction, who reacts by throwing his hands in the air as the crowd roars.

Once the game was over, Mbappé revealed what the commotion was about.

“There was player No. 25 from Benfica, I don’t want to mention his name, he doesn’t deserve it, who started speaking rudely and saying insults,” Mbappé said. “Then he put his shirt down here and said ‘monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey’. I heard him say it, and some Benfica players heard him too.”

Vinícius’ plea to the official led to the UEFA’s anti-racism protocol being activated, which stopped play for about 10 minutes to assess the situation. Prestianni remained in the match, but UEFA has promised to look deeper into the claim.

“A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed 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 February 17, 2026. Further information regarding this matter will be made available in due course.”

Junior had his own statement after the game, which he released on his Instagram stories, which read, “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are. But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life. I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”

Gianluca Prestianni denies the racist remark on Instagram:

“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard.”

Sources told ESPN’s Bruno Andrade that Prestianni submitted evidence that he called Vinicius the anti-gay slur “maric-n” in Spanish, rather than “mono,” which is Spanish for monkey.

Benfica is standing behind their winger, saying the team is “disappointed with the defamation campaign of which our player has been a victim.”

Prestianni was later suspended for Wednesday’s Champions League match against Real Madrid. 

See social media’s reaction to the controversy below.