AS: Vinicius Jr says Prestianni called him “monkey”

Vinícius Júnior accuses Gianluca Prestianni of calling him “monkey”. That is the fact. The core of the matter. 

A complaint to François Letexier triggered a red alert at Da Luz: the racism protocol. The match was stopped immediately. And chaos erupted. Vinicius sat down on the bench, refusing to return to the pitch. Meanwhile, a member of the SL Benfica staff was shown a straight red card during a clash between the benches. The issue is that there is no evidence, nor does it appear there will be any: Prestianni covered his mouth at the moment of the alleged insult. Neither the assistant referee nor the referee heard it in real time. But Vinicius has no doubts. He sprang up and sprinted to inform the referee. Now UEFA will open an investigation.

The match was stopped for around 10 minutes. Everything exploded after Vinicius scored a stunning goal. He went to celebrate at the corner, danced by the flag and then turned toward the stands holding up his shirt. An attitude that Letexier did not like, booking him with a yellow card. That decision angered Vinicius and raised the temperature of the game even further. There was a confrontation between players. A near brawl. Nicolás Otamendi led the complaints toward Vinicius, although that face off seemed to end in understanding. With apparent calm. Then Prestianni stepped in. And the spark became a fire.

They did not square up physically. There were no shoves. But there were words. In both directions. And while they argued, to use a euphemism, it happened: Prestianni covered his mouth with his shirt and allegedly delivered the racist insult. One that will almost certainly never be proven. It seems unlikely that any camera angle will allow lip reading. But Vinicius is clear about what he heard: “monkey”. A word that made him react instantly. Within a second he ran to Letexier and told him what had just happened. A before and after moment.

If Vinicius took a second to alert the referee, that was all the time the official needed to activate the protocol. Letexier turned toward the benches and made the racism gesture, arms crossed in an X. Match stopped. That is when the exchange of words between benches and players began. The conflict multiplied. A direct red card was shown to an assistant of José Mourinho on the bench. Among the angry reactions, Kylian Mbappé stood out, visibly furious with the situation. With Prestianni, whose response was constant denial.

Vinicius walked to the bench and leaned on it, apart from the scuffle between players. Shaken. Shortly after, he escalated the gesture: he sat down on the bench, refusing to return to the pitch. The match was therefore stopped for around 10 minutes, roughly between the 49th and 59th minute. Once the stadium announcer warned the crowd, as the protocol requires, and Letexier spoke with Prestianni, play resumed. With both footballers back on the pitch. But with the atmosphere completely poisoned.

In fact, the racist abuse did not stop. AS can confirm that several individuals, to call them that, made monkey gestures behind the goal. Specifically behind the goal defended by Anatolii Trubin. It did not go unnoticed by the players. Federico Valverde alerted the referee to what was happening, although it did not alter the course of the match. The ball kept rolling. But Real Madrid CF were no longer the same, and the match as a whole was not the same either. It was impossible. Football slipped into the background after a racism protocol that once again embarrasses the sport worldwide. Because racism remains a persistent stain. This time, Vinicius reports that Prestianni called him “monkey”.