Gianluca Prestianni also insists he used a homophobic and not a gay slur
Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni is set to claim that he used a homophobic rather than a racist insult on Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior during their confrontation in the Champions League game last week.
Prestianni has been handed a one-game provisional suspension by Uefa while investigations take place. He was caught on camera holding his shirt over his mouth while he said something to the Madrid forward.
Vinicius immediately ran to the referee and reported the incident to the official, who then initiated Fifa’s anti-racism protocol. Play was paused for 10 minutes before eventually continuing.
With a trial set to take place, it is thought that Prestianni will say in his defence that he had been called a dwarf or midget by Vinicius, forcing him to retaliate, according to the Times. Prestianni is short at 5ft 5in.
Vinicius claimed that Prestianni had called him “mono”, which is Spanish for monkey. Teammate Kylian Mbappe, who was standing close to the two, said he had also heard the Benfica player use the word. But Prestianni has insisted that he only used the word “maricon”, a Spanish homophobic insult.
Both racist and homophobic abuse are breaches of Article 14 of Uefa’s disciplinary rules and carry lengthy bans as punishment. The disciplinary committee of the European football governing body is also not expected to accept the claim that Vinicius mocked his height as a defence of Prestianni’s actions.
The Argentine winger faces a ban of up to 10 matches. Madrid play Benfica in the second leg of their Champions League playoff tie at the Bernabeu on Wednesday.
