Tuesday’s Champions League play-off round clash between Real Madrid and Benfica was overshadowed by the alleged racist abuse of match-winner Vinicius Junior by Gianluca Prestianni.
Real Madrid came away from the first leg in Estadio da Luz as 1-0 winners thanks to the Brazilian’s goal, but UEFA’s anti-racist protocol was set in action immediately after the celebrations.
Argentinian winger Prestianni had covered his shirt with his mouth, before muttering something to Vinicius, who alerted the referee to the alleged abuse. But will Prestianni be charged for his actions?
How have FIFA and UEFA dealt with previous racism allegations?
Unfortunately, precedent is abundant.
At the 2025 Club World Cup, Real Madrid’s Antonio Rudiger alerted the referee to alleged abuse from Pachuca captain Gustavo Cabral in their 3-1 group stage win, activating FIFA's racism protocol.
That aligns with UEFA’s protocol, declaring a match must first be stopped, then suspended, then abandoned, depending on the severity and persistence of the abuse.
No further action was taken by FIFA on that occasion, as Cabral insisted he had only called Rudiger a ‘coward’. As is so often the case, it comes down to one person’s word against another’s.
Of course, Vinicius is no stranger to abuse. Sixteen separate incidents involving fans from Atletico Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona during his time in Spain have seen the Brazilian allegedly targeted.
In 2022, Spanish football agent Pedro Bravo blasted him for ‘acting like a monkey’ on late-night show El Chiringuito. After an apology, the show distanced itself from Bravo, but no disciplinary action was taken.
That was said down a camera to the watching world. Whatever Prestianni said was muttered into his shirt, obscured from view.
Como demonstram as imagens, dada a distância, os jogadores do Real Madrid não podem ter ouvido o que andam a dizer que ouviram. pic.twitter.com/7JF9AVuhEMFebruary 18, 2026
Vini again found himself targeted after a second-place finish in the 2024 Ballon D’Or ceremony, when the whole world had been told the award was his by trigger-happy journalists a month prior.
That apparent ‘failure’ of being named the second-best player in world football stung the 25-year-old, who labelled the decision to overlook him as racist. It ostensibly wasn’t - Vinicius had the same number of goal involvements as Andrej Kramaric and Jean-Philippe Mateta that season, while Rodri won the European Championship and Premier League - but the public response to his tantrum was vitriolic.
He vowed to ‘do it ten times over if he has to’ in order to claim the prize. Instead, he has had to endure it ten times over, as racists continue to berate and mock him, despite his continued excellence on the world stage.
Today, Benfica posted a video of Tuesday’s incident on X, suggesting Vinicius was too far from Prestianni to hear his words.
In the post-match interview, Jose Mourinho said the Brazilian must take responsibility for the words that come his way as he indulges in provocative celebrations and abuse follows him around the world to different stadiums. He also said Benfica can't be racist because Eusebio was black.
Except, Prestianni himself insisted his targeted homophobic slur was instead misconstrued as a racist one. To summarise, according to the club, he didn’t do it. According to him, he did, but it was homophobic, not racist. And according to Mourinho, it was justified because of what had gone before.
Benfica coach Jose Mourinho accused Vinicius Junior of inciting an incident that ended with the Real Madrid forward alleging racist abuse during the two sides’ Champions League play-off game on Tuesday night.Mourinho also said he had reminded Vinicius Jr that “the biggest… pic.twitter.com/XQZrS6LZIlFebruary 18, 2026
Such scattergun excuses are the only reason Prestianni might find himself in hot water with UEFA, as Rudiger’s case demonstrated the impossibility of a racism charge based on two fundamentally different accounts of events.
But Vinicius Junior knows that better than anyone. And he’s ready to fight it. One of his tattoos reads:
‘As long as the colour of your skin is more important than the brightness of your eyes, there’ll be war.’
