Vinicius Jr: Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni handed provisional one-match suspension after alleged racist abuse
Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni has received a provisional one-match suspension after Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr reported alleged racist abuse during last week’s Champions League meeting.
Vinicius told referee Francois Letexier that he had been racially abused by the Argentina winger during the first leg of their Champions League knockout phase play-off tie in Lisbon last Tuesday.
Uefa announced the provisional ban on Monday following the appointment of an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate the incident.
The European governing body said further punishment could be handed out once the investigation is completed.
Prestianni has denied racially abusing the Brazilian.
Real Madrid and Benfica meet for the second leg in the Spanish capital on Wednesday (20:00 GMT).
Last week’s first leg was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius alerted on-field official Letexier to the second-half incident, before he and his team-mates temporarily left the pitch.
It came after Vinicus, 25, scored a stunning goal and then received a yellow card for his celebrations in front of the Benfica supporters.
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho, who is suspended for the second leg following his sending off later in the match, was criticised for his post-match comments after saying he believed that Vinicius had celebrated disrespectfully.
Because of his ban, Mourinho will not speak to the media before the match – but Benfica have the option of making the assistant coach available instead.