Mbappé on racist abuse: “He said it five times... Benfica players heard it”

The fall-out from Real Madrid’s fractious victory over Benfica in the Champions League continued on Tuesday night with comments from Kylian Mbappé. The Frenchman was one of the Madrid players closest to Vinícius Júnior when he reported racist abuse from Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni on the field.

Vinícius immediately informed referee Francois Letexier and walked from the field, while the official began the anti-racism protocol. After a ten-minute delay the game was restarted with Prestianni still on the field. Speaking after the game Mbappé revealed what he had heard from the exchange and outlined what he believes should happen going forward.

Mbappé told reporters: “The number 25 from Benfica - I don’t want to say his name, because he doesn’t deserve it - first said something bad, not acceptable, but that happens in soccer. But afterwards he pulled up his shirt [to cover his mouth] and said ‘Vinícius is a monkey’ five times. I heard it, there are players from Benfica that heard it too.”

“I don’t want to generalize, because there are people who didn’t do anything. In the stadium there were 70,000 people who didn’t do anything, who just want to support their team,” Mbappé continued. “It’s this player. This player who, for me, should not play again in the Champions League. It’s an amazing thing to play in the Champions League... We have to make the best example for the youngsters.”

The incident came after Vinícius had scored the game’s only goal, a sumptuous curling finish from the corner of the penalty box that flew into the top corner. His celebration was met with anger from the Benfica players and Prestianni certainly appeared to say something provocative, although his raised jersey obscured his mouth.

Writing on social media after the game, Vinícius addressed the incident: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts over their mouths to show how weak they are... But they have, alongside them, the protection of others who, in theory, have an obligation to punish. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my family’s life.”

Get your game on! Whether you’re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all.