{"id":115961,"date":"2026-02-18T23:16:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:16:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115961"},"modified":"2026-02-18T23:16:01","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:16:01","slug":"benfica-claim-defamation-campaign-against-prestianni","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=115961","title":{"rendered":"Benfica claim \u2018defamation campaign\u2019 against Prestianni"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 7 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

Benfica claim there is a \u201cdefamation campaign\u201d against Gianluca Prestianni after Uefa launched an investigation into claims he racially abused Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr.<\/p>\n

Tuesday\u2019s Champions League tie at Benfica was\u00a0halted for 10 minutes\u00a0after Vinicius reported alleged racist abuse to referee Francois Letexier, and he and his teammates left the field.<\/span><\/p>\n

Brazil international Vinicius, who has been a victim of numerous incidents of racist abuse during his playing career, later said in a post on Instagram: \u201cRacists are, above all, cowards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prestianni, who could face a minimum 10-match ban from European competition if found guilty, denied directing racial abuse at Vinicius.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Benfica defended Prestianni in a post on their official X account, along with a video of the alleged incident, saying: \u201cGiven the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard.\u201d<\/p>\n

The club added they \u201cfully support\u201d and believe the version of events presented by Prestianni.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Prestianni\u2019s] conduct in the service of the club has always been guided by respect for opponents, institutions and the principles that define Benfica\u2019s identity,\u201d Benfica added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club regrets the defamation campaign of which the player has been a victim.\u201d<\/p>\n

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho has been criticised for comments he made after the match, including saying Vinicius had been disrespectful in his goal celebration.<\/p>\n

Former referee Mark Clattenburg, who was a pundit for the match on Amazon Prime, apologised on Wednesday for his \u201cclumsy\u201d comments on the incident.<\/p>\n

Clattenburg said Vinicius had \u201cnot helped himself\u201d and made things difficult for the referee.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing justifies racism in sport or in life. I\u2019m grateful to have a chance to follow up on last night. I got it wrong, I\u2019m sorry,\u201d the 50-year-old\u00a0posted on X.,\u00a0external<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was live TV, my job is to respond to the moment, and the words I used were clumsy and not right.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m already learning from this and appreciate my colleagues who covered the situation with class throughout.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Discrimination is one thing, gaslighting is another\u2019 \u2013 the reaction<\/h2>\n

Mourinho said in his post-match interview that he had been told different things by Vinicius and Prestianni regarding the incident.<\/p>\n

The Portuguese, who managed Real for 178 games between 2010 and 2013, pointed to their legendary striker Eusebio as proof that Benfica is not a racist club.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club reaffirms, clearly and unequivocally, its historical and unwavering commitment to defending the values of equality, respect and inclusion, which are in line with the core values of its foundation and have Eusebio as their greatest symbol,\u201d Benfica said.<\/p>\n

Mourinho\u2019s and Benfica\u2019s comments have been criticised by several people, including anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out.<\/p>\n

Kick It Out chair Sanjay Bhandari said both the club and manager had \u201cfailed\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a natural inclination to want to believe your player, but the reality is they didn\u2019t hear it,\u201d Bhandari told BBC Sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s only two people who are in that conversation and two people who could have heard what was said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the better reaction from a club with Benfica\u2019s fantastic stature would be to say we\u2019re going to cooperate with the investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is quite typical after these kinds of discriminatory events. The discrimination is one thing, the gaslighting is another.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he was \u201cshocked and saddened\u201d by the incident and commended Letexier for activating the anti-racism protocol.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is absolutely no room for racism in our sport and in society \u2013 we need all the relevant stakeholders to take action and hold those responsible to account,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will always continue to reiterate: No to racism, no to any form of discrimination!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Benfica claim there is a “defamation campaign” against Gianluca Prestianni after Uefa launched an investigation into claims he racially abused Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1291,17149,137,10,9,17150,17151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115961","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-benfica","category-defamation-campaign","category-football","category-politics","category-popular","category-prestianni","category-racial-discrimination"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115961","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115961"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115961\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115961"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115961"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115961"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}