Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni was punished for homophobic conduct rather than racism; suspension can be extended by FIFA and threaten the player’s presence in the World Cup
UEFA announced this Friday (24) the suspension of Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni20 years old and Benfica player, for six matches due to a “discriminatory” behavior. against Real Madrid striker Vinícius Jr.
The case occurred on February 17, during the first game of the Champions League round of 16. At the time, the Argentine was accused of calling the Brazilian star a “monkey”. The referee even activated the anti-racism protocol on the field and Vinícius, supported by teammates such as Frenchman Kylian Mbappé, denounced the alleged discrimination.
Although the episode was initially treated as a racial slur — an accusation that Prestianni promptly denied on his social media —, the highest governing body of European football concluded that the athlete committed “discriminatory conduct of a homophobic nature”. According to ESPN, by basing the conviction on homophobia and not racism, the UEFA disciplinary chamber ended validating the defense presented by the player.
Of the total punishment of six games in UEFA and national team competitions, Prestianni has already served one match: the return match against Real Madrid (won by the Spanish club), from which he was preventively left out. Furthermore, the sentence for three of these games was converted into a conditional suspension with a probationary period of two years, which means that the athlete will not need to serve it, as long as he does not repeat the infraction.
UEFA also informed that it will ask FIFA to extend the penalty to a global scope. If the request is accepted by the highest entity in world football, the sanction could jeopardize Prestianni’s eventual participation in the Argentine national team in the World Cup.
*With information from AFP
