Benfica have categorically denied that Gianluca Prestianni admitted to his teammates he racially abused Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior.
Portuguese media had reported the Argentinian winger, who denies the accusation, had confessed his guilt to the rest of the squad.
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However, his club insisted that was not the case.
“Benfica categorically denies that player Prestianni communicated to the squad or the club’s management that he had uttered a racist insult against Real Madrid player Vinícius Júnior,” said a statement.
“As has already been made public, the player apologised to his teammates for the incident that occurred during the match against Real Madrid, regretting its magnitude and consequences and assuring everyone, as he has done from the very beginning, that he is not racist.”
Prestianni was provisionally suspended for Wednesday’s Champions League playoff defeat against Madrid after Vinícius alleged he was racially abused by the Argentinian in the first leg.
Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé gave an extensive account of what he had seen and heard to the media after the game, saying that he personally had heard Prestianni racially abuse Vinícius five times.
“I heard it,” Mbappé said. “There are Benfica players that also heard it.”
ESPN has reported that Prestianni told UEFA investigators that he called Vinícius an anti-gay slur, rather than a racist slur.
Last week’s match was halted for nearly 10 minutes after the referee installed the anti-racism protocol following Vinícius’ complaint to him.
Vinícius scored an 80th-minute goal to give Madrid a 2-1 victory and a 3-1 aggregate win over Benfica in the second leg at the Bernabeu.
PA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
