One of the two men at the centre of the latest high profile racism incident in world football has denied any involvement in the alleged incident.
Benfica Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni has stated that he didn’t use racial words against Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr during a heated moment in a UEFA Champions League clash involving Benfica and Real Madrid.
Benfica lost 1-0 to Portugal in the first leg of a playoff tie with Vinicius Jr scoring the winner. However, the Brazilian was involved in a racism incident when he reported that Prestianni allegedly racially abused him.
The report led to the game getting suspended for 10 minutes before play resumed; investigations are being reviewed according to UEFA at the time of writing.
Despite being reported for making racial slurs, Prestianni has denied making racist insults towards Vinicius by stating, (Click highlighted text to read full story)
“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard. I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
