UEFA provisionally suspends Benfica's Prestianni over alleged discriminatory behaviour

MADRID : UEFA has provisionally suspended Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni for one match after the Argentine winger was accused of directing a racist slur at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr during the Spanish side's 1-0 Champions League playoff first-leg win, European soccer's governing body said on Monday (Feb 23).

Prestianni will miss Wednesday's return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Real Madrid holding a 1-0 lead from the first leg in Lisbon.

The suspension is pending the outcome of the ongoing proceedings, as UEFA has appointed an Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector to investigate the allegations of discriminatory behaviour.

"This is without prejudice to any ruling that the UEFA disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the UEFA disciplinary bodies. Further information about this matter will be made available in due course," UEFA said in a statement.

The first leg was suspended for 11 minutes shortly after Vinicius curled Real into the lead five minutes into the second half.

Television footage showed Prestianni covering his mouth with his shirt repeatedly before making comments that Vinicius and nearby team mates interpreted as a racial slur against the 25-year-old.

Referee Francois Letexier halted the match after activating FIFA's anti-racism protocols. The footage appeared to show Real forward Kylian Mbappe confronting Prestianni and calling him "a bloody racist" while images from the broadcast seemed to show Benfica fans imitating a monkey.

Prestianni denied the allegation, saying Vinicius "misunderstood what he thinks he heard".

Benfica, who last week said they stood by their player, issued a statement on Monday saying they "regret