Argentine football player Gianluca Prestianni, who was preventively suspended by UEFA for one game after an accusation of racism by Vinicius Júnior, traveled with Benfica to Madrid, where the team will play against Real Madrid in the return game of the play-off to access the Champions League round of 16.
“We are not on the field to know what was said and what was not said. In a situation like that, a lot is said, but we believe in our player’s word, especially because we know the players we have at home. Prestianni is being classified as a racist person and I can guarantee that Prestianni is anything but racist”, Rui Costa told journalists at Lisbon airport on the morning of this Tuesday, February 24th.
The president of Benfica justified having remained silent for so many days about the case because the process was ongoing. “There was no point in talking until there was a decision,” he said, explaining that the club went ahead with an appeal against UEFA’s decision as they considered that “nothing has been proven and nothing justifies the absence of this player”.
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