Real Madrid file racism complaint to UEFA following an incident by their forward, Vinicius Junior who accused Gianluca Prestianni of racism in the play-off between the champions league between Real Madrid and Benfica in Lisbon. The Spanish club announced it on Thursday, saying that all the necessary footage and reports are disseminated to UEFA to examine them.
This happened just after Vinicius had scored the single goal of the game giving Real Madrid a 1-0 lead. The action was halted ten minutes after the Brazilian forward said Prestianni subjected him to racist language. Television shots seemed to have captured Prestianni with his shirt over his mouth when talking to Vinicius.
Prestianni refuted the claims on Instagram after the incident took place. He said that Vinicius had the wrong understanding of what he believed he heard and he never hurled racist insults at anyone. Prestianni also stated that he is sorry about the insults he got in Real Madrid but insisted that he was never a racist to anyone.
This new step puts UEFA in a scenario to explore the issue comprehensively before determining whether there is any disciplinary measure that can be undertaken. The presentation of evidence by Real Madrid gives them a stronger argument that racism can no longer be condoned in European football and in particular the prestigious Champions League.
The scandal has revived the discussion of the behavior of players and racial discrimination in football. According to experts, the way UEFA had dealt with such cases would be used as precedent in future incidents. Vinicius, Mbappe, and some other Real Madrid players still stress that it is the duty of footballers to be role models and deny racism both on and off the field.
