Vinicius Jr said “racists are cowards” after he was allegedly abused during Real Madrid’s Champions League play-off first leg against Benfica, which was held up for 11 minutes over reported racist remarks.
Vinicius had an altercation with Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni after scoring the only goal of the game and told the referee that he had been the subject of racist abuse. The match was then paused following Uefa’s three-step racism protocol.
Benfica manager Jose Mourinho was criticised by Amazon Prime pundit Clarence Seedorf after the Benfica boss appeared to suggest Vinicius had provoked the abuse in his post-match interview, while Trent Alexander-Arnold called the incident “a disgrace to football”.
In a statement on Instagram, Benfica winger Prestianni said he had not directed racist insults at Vinicius, who he said had “regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard”.
After the game, which resumed and saw Real win 1-0, Vinicius took to Instagram and said: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are.
“But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life.
“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose. I don’t like to appear in situations like this, especially after a big win and when the headlines should be about Real Madrid, but it’s necessary.”
Uefa said they are reviewing the incident. “The official reports from the matches played last night are currently being reviewed,” the footballing body said in a statement.
“Where matters are reported, proceedings are opened and should they lead to disciplinary sanctions being imposed, they are announced on the Uefa disciplinary website.”
Kylian Mbappe called on Uefa to take strong disciplinary action and claimed he heard Prestianni racially insult Vinicius. “He put his shirt down here and said ‘monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey, monkey’. I heard him say it, and some Benfica players heard him too, and then everything you saw started,” Mbappe said.
The match was a heated contest following the dramatic encounter between the sides during the league phase of the tournament before Vinicius sent the visitors into the lead with a stunning strike in the second half.
The Brazilian forward then celebrated in front of the Benfica fans near the corner flag and was shown a yellow card. As the match was due to restart, he spoke with Prestianni who covered his mouth with his shirt while talking to Vinicius.
Vinicius then ran over to referee Francois Letexier incensed by the clash with Prestianni and gestured towards the 20-year-old Argentine. The official then crossed his arms to activate Uefa’s racism protocol.
Vinicius’ anger continued and he walked off the pitch heading to the Real Madrid dugout where he sat down and was followed by his Real Madrid teammates.
Benfica’s manager, Mourinho, attempted to calm matters by talking to Real’s players including Mbappe and Vinicius himself.
The referee officially stopped play due to what is believed to have been a report of an alleged racist comment made towards Vinicius. The match resumed 11 minutes later with a member of the Benfica backroom staff being shown a red card during the break in play as tensions remained high.
Following the resumption, objects were thrown at the Madrid players from the stands and each touch of the ball from the visiting side was met with jeers.
Mourinho himself was then shown a red card for protesting against a decision made by the referee to award his team a free kick outside the box and not a penalty.
After 12 minutes of stoppage time, Madrid closed out the match with a 1-0 lead to take into the second leg at the Bernabeu.
Speaking as part of the commentary on Amazon Prime, Alan Shearer said: “It has been an ugly second half. What we should be talking about is a special goal. I suspect the headline will be very, very different.”
Mourinho, a former Real Madrid manager, was asked if Vinicius had “incited” the Benfica players and the crowd with his celebration and he responded: “Yeah, I believe so. The words they exchange, Prestianni with Vinicius, I want to be independent. I don’t comment about it.”
The Portuguese manager then revealed his own talks with Vinicius and explained what he had told the winger during the pause in play.
“I told him that when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back,” Mourinho added. “And then when he was arguing about racism I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was Black. This club, the last thing it is is racist, so if in his mind it was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.
“There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. Every stadium that Vinicius plays [in] something happens. Always.
“I’m saying that it was a good 50 minutes of football, millions of people watching around the world, a crazy goal absolutely crazy goal and then game over.”
Amazon Prime pundits Wayne Rooney, Clarence Seedorf and Theo Walcott seemed stunned by Mourinho’s comments with Rooney labelling them “unfair” and Seedorf saying Mourinho made a “big mistake”.
“As he said he’s trying to stay independent but I think it was very unfair what he said about Vinicius,” Rooney said when pressed for comment by presenter Gabby Logan.
Seedorf further explained by adding: “I think he [Jose Mourinho] is still emotional. I think he made a big mistake today to justify racial abuse and I’m not saying that was the case today but he mentioned something more than today. He said wherever he goes these things happen, so he’s saying it’s okay when Vinicius provokes you, that is it okay to be racist and I think that is very wrong.
“We should never, ever justify racial abuse. And Vinicius has had enough of that unjustified behaviour from people. And I know Mourinho by heart would agree with me but he expressed himself a bit unfortunately I believe. Because we should not be telling the people at home that someone makes a dance or something then it’s okay to be racist.”
Theo Walcott plainly finished: “That’s the one time we shouldn’t have heard from him [Mourinho], tonight he should not have been in front of the cameras.”
On the match being paused, Uefa have a three-step racism protocol in place giving referees the power to halt matches and referee Letexier initiated step one.
The three step protocol is:
- Firstly stop the game. They will then request an announcement to be made over the public address system asking spectators to immediately stop any racist behaviour
- Then if it continues, stop the game for five to 10 minutes and take the players off the pitch while making another announcement
- And if it resumes after the second restart, the referee can abandon the game
A match will only be abandoned once the security of the players and public has been assessed. The case is then referred to Uefa’s disciplinary authorities. The incident between Vinicius and Prestianni will be investigated.
