The fallout from February’s clash between Benfica and Real Madrid has taken a sharp turn as UEFA delivers a final verdict; Yankee Scores report…. 

Uefa has handed a six-game ban to Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni for homophobic conduct during their Champions League knockout play-off match with Real Madrid in February.

The Genesis

The incident occurred in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League knockout playoff tie in Estadio da Luz last in February, right after the Brazilian had given Real Madrid the lead.

Prestianni, covering his mouth with his shirt, muttered something which irked Vinicius. The Brazilian forward immediately ran to the referee, informing him that he had been abused racially.

The match was halted for about ten minutes. The referee activated the racism protocols, before the game eventually resumed.

Confirmation and Denial

Since then, Vinicius and Kylian Mbappe have insisted that Prestianni uttered ‘monkey’, while the Benfica player and the Portuguese club have denied such claims. This led to condemnation from players and coaches across the world. Many believe that for Prestianni to cover his mouth, he might indeed have uttered some racial abuse.

However, in February, Portuguese publication Correio de Manha sensationally claimed that Prestianni admitted to his teammates that he called Vinicius Jr. a ‘monkey’.

Though, Prestianni, 20, vehemently denied making a racist comment and claimed Vinicius must have misheard him. However, Vinicius teammate Aurelien Tchouameni countered, saying that Prestianni told him he had in fact directed a homophobic comment towards the Brazil forward.

UEFA Sanctions

Argentina’s Prestianni will be banned for two further games. He has already served a provisional one-match ban, with the other three suspended for two years.

Uefa has also requested FIFA to extend the ban worldwide.