Bayern Munich head coach jose Vincent Kompany has said Benfica boss José Mourinho made a “huge mistake” in his post-match comments following alleged racist abuse of Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior.
Brazil international Vinícius reported an instance of alleged racial abuse to referee Francois Letexier after scoring in Tuesday’s Champions League playoff tie against Benfica, with the Spanish club later pointing to winger Gianluca Prestianni as the subject of the complaint.
Prestianni denied making racist comments in a post on Instagram, while his club spoke of a “defamation campaign” against him.
Letexier activated anti-racism protocols, suspending play for 10 minutes, with UEFA initiating an investigation into the incident.
Mourinho was criticised for his post-match comments, saying that “something happens, always” in matches where Vinícius plays.
Former Manchester City defender and Burnley boss Kompany addressed the issue at a news conference on Friday morning ahead of Bayern’s Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt, and issued an impassioned defence of Vinícius, stressing his reaction “cannot be faked.”
“For me, even worse, is what happens after the game,” said Kompany, who recalled his own experiences of racism as a young player which included Real Betis fans “doing monkey chants” at him and former Anderlecht team-mate Cheick Tiote.
“After the game, you have the leader of an organisation, José Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinícius Jr., by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinicius is doing in this moment.
“For me, in terms of leadership, it is a huge mistake. It is something we should not accept. I am very clear on that.
“The one thing you can’t do is dismiss a person and attack the character of a person who’s complaining about something he experienced and something that must be very painful to that person. There is something that needs to happen.”
Kompany added: “I know 100 people who have worked with José Mourinho. I have never heard a person say anything bad about Jose.
“I understand he is fighting for his team and his club. You cannot be a bad person and have all the ex-players you have had talk so positively about you.
“I don’t need to judge him as a person, but I know what I have heard and I understand maybe what he has done, but he has made a mistake.”
The Brazilian Football Confederation has, meanwhile, written to UEFA and FIFA stressing the need to “identify and punish” anyone guilty of racially abusing Vinicius.
– Seedorf on Mourinho’s Vinícius reaction: Mistake to justify racial abuse
– Real Madrid give UEFA ‘all available evidence’ for Vinícius Jr. probe
– Brazil calls for punishments in Vinícius Júnior racism investigation
It has been reported that the UEFA probe, headed up by an ethics and disciplinary investigator, could take up to three weeks to conclude.
That means Vinícius and Prestianni could come face to face again in the second leg of the play-off at the Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday, with the case still unresolved.
Now Vinícius’ national federation, led by president Samir Xaud, has come forward to lobby the European and global governing bodies.
A statement read: “The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) asked FIFA and UEFA for rigour in punishing those involved in the new case of racism committed against Vinícius Jr.
“The CBF reinforced that it expects FIFA to monitor the case and that UEFA adopts all necessary measures to identify and punish those guilty of racial insults.”
