Real Madrid’s Champions League play-off first leg against Benfica was held up for 10 minutes over an alleged racist comment made towards winger Vinicius Jr.
The match was a closely fought and heated contest following the dramatic encounter between the sides during the league phase of the tournament before Vinicius sent the visitors into the lead with a stunning strike in the second half.
The Brazilian forward then celebrated excessively in front of the Benfica fans near the corner flag and earned himself a yellow card. As the match was due to restart he was drawn into an altercation with opposition player Gianluca Prestianni who covered his mouth with his shirt while talking to Vinicius.
Vinicius then ran over to referee Francois Letexier incensed by the clash with Prestianni and gestured towards the 20-year-old Argentine. The official then crossed his arms to activate Uefa’s racisim protocol.
Vinicius’ anger continued and he walked off the pitch heading to the Real Madrid dugout where he sat down and was followed by his Real Madrid teammates.
Benfica’s manager, Jose Mourinho, attempted to calm matters by talking to Real’s players including Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius himself.
The referee officially stopped play due to what is believed to have been a report of an alleged racist comment made towards Vinicius. The match resumed 10 minutes later with a member of the Benfica backroom staff being shown a red card during the break in play as tensions remained high.
Following the resumption, objects were thrown at the Madrid players from the stands and each touch of the ball from the visiting side was met with jeers.
Mourinho himself was then shown a red card for protesting against a decision made by the referee to award his team a free kick outside the box and not a penalty.
After 12 minutes of stoppage time, Madrid closed out the match with a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg at the Bernabeu.
Speaking as part of the commentary on Amazon Prime, Alan Shearer said: “It has been an ugly second half. What we should be talking about is a special goal. I suspect the headline will be very, very different.”
On the match being paused, Uefa have a three-step racism protocol in place giving referees the power to halt matches and referee Letexier initiated step one.
The three step protocol is:
- Firstly stop the game. They will then request an announcement to be made over the public address system asking spectators to immediately stop any racist behaviour.
- Then if it continues, stop the game for five to 10 minutes and take the players off the pitch while making another announcement.
- And if it resumes after the second restart, the referee can abandon the game.
A match will only be abandoned once the security of the players and public has been assessed. The case is then referred to Uefa's disciplinary authorities. The incident between Vinicius and Prestianni will be investigated.
