Gianluca Prestianni has received a six-game ban, with three of those matches suspended and one of them already served, for “homophobic conduct” after Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr said he was racially abused by the Benfica and Argentina player during a Champions League match in February.
The ruling follows aninvestigation into “discriminatory behaviour” by Uefa, after Vinicius Jr alleged Prestianni had made a racist slur towards him. Prestianni denied the charge of using racist language and claimed instead that he had used an “anti-gay” slur.
Prestianni was provisionally suspended from the return leg of the Champions League play-off between the teams two months ago, so he will only be sidelined for two further matches unless he commits another offence during a two-year probationary period.
Uefa’s ruling on Friday confirmed the following:
- To suspend SL Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni for a total of six Uefa club and/or representative national team official matches for which he would otherwise be eligible, for discriminatory (i.e. homophobic) conduct. The suspension for three of these matches is subject to a probationary period of two years.
- This decision (i.e. the six-match suspension) includes the one-match provisional suspension served by the player during Uefa Champions League 2025/26 knock-out play-off match played on 25 February 2026 between Real Madrid CF and SL Benfica.
- To request Fifa to extend worldwide the above-mentioned suspension.
Uefa’s ruling means that Prestianni’s punishment would apply to matches at this summer’s World Cup, but only if the 20-year-old winger is called up by Argentina and Fifa extends the ban worldwide. Otherwise, it would be served in next season’s Uefa competitions.
Benfica’s match against Real Madrid in Lisbon was halted for 11 minutes under Uefa’s three-step anti-racism protocol. Prestianni covered his mouth with his shirt when speaking to Vinicius, with the Brazil international reporting racist language to the referee Francois Letexier.
Presitanni denied the accusation and said Vinicius misheard him. After the game, several of Vinicius’s Real Madrid team-mates, including Kylian Mbappe, said they heard Presitanni call Vincius a “monkey”. On his Instagram, Vinicius said: "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are.”
With Presitanni provsionally suspended from the second leg, Uefa appointed an ethics and disciplinary investigator. That investigation has concluded Prestianni’s conduct was homophobic rather than racist.
Article 14 of Uefa’s disciplinary regulations states that “any person who insults the human dignity of a person” on grounds including “skin colour, race, religion, ethnic origin, gender or sexual orientation” incurs a suspension lasting at least ten matches, or “a specified period of time”.
In the future, players who cover their mouths during a confrontation with an opponent could be sent off. The issue will be examined by the International Football Association Board (Ifab) while Fifa president Gianni Infantino told Sky News: “There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn’t have said, otherwise he wouldn’t have had to cover his mouth.”
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