In the 1-0 win against Benfica in the champions league in Lisbon, Vinicius Jr has claimed he was racially abused by the young winger of Benfica Gianluca Prestianni. The incident resulted in a delay in the match by 10 minutes, that happened soon after Vinicius scored.
The evidence presented by UEFA by Real Madrid to back the claim by their forward has been submitted. Videotapes and photos depict that Prestianni was covering his mouth when addressing Vinicius and this gave rise to controversy and discussions in the field of European football. Team mates and officials of the Brazilian forward were concerned about the incident and that racism should not be allowed in the sport.
On Instagram, Prestianni has refuted the claims. He said, “I would like to explain that I never uttered racist insults against player Vinícius Junior who unfortunately misinterpreted what he believed he had heard. I was never racist with anybody. His club Benfica has also stated that it was fully cooperating with the investigations of UEFA in order to clear the situation.
This event brought the Champions League game to a brief stop, and it showed the severity of the situation against racism in football presented by UEFA. Players, fans, and pundits have demanded that drastic measures should be taken to make sure that such incidences do not happen again. The social media has already exaggerated the debate with mass of people siding with Vinicius Jr and calling on equal investigation of the case by Prestianni.
This case brings up the general issues of racism in football and the role of the governing bodies to safety of players. The investigation done by UEFAs will focus on both club evidence and independent footage.
