UEFA bans Prestianni for six games over Vinicius Junior incident

Advertisement

Advertise with us

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA handed Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni a six-game ban on Friday for verbally abusing Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League game earlier this season.

Read this article for free:

or

Already have an account? Log in here »

We need your support!
Local journalism needs your support!

As we navigate through unprecedented times, our journalists are working harder than ever to bring you the latest local updates to keep you safe and informed.

Now, more than ever, we need your support.

Starting at $15.99 plus taxes every four weeks you can access your Brandon Sun online and full access to all content as it appears on our website.

Subscribe Now

or call circulation directly at (204) 727-0527.

Your pledge helps to ensure we provide the news that matters most to your community!

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Brandon Sun access to your Free Press subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on brandonsun.com
  • Read the Brandon Sun E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
Start now

No thanks

*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $20.00 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.00 plus GST every four weeks.

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA handed Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni a six-game ban on Friday for verbally abusing Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League game earlier this season.

A UEFA statement said Prestianni’s comments were “discriminatory (i.e. homophobic) conduct.”

UEFA said three of those six games were on probation, and he has already served one game of a provisional punishment already. That means Prestianni will initially only need to serve out two more games of the suspension, which UEFA said could include appearances with Argentina at the World Cup if he were selected for the June tournament.

Argentina’s first two games are against Algeria on June 17 in Kansas City and Austria five days later in Arlington.

The incident happened during a game in Lisbon between the teams in February.

The game was halted for nearly 10 minutes after the Brazil forward scored and celebrated by the Benfica corner flag, upsetting local fans and players. After being confronted by Prestianni, Vinícius accused the Argentine player of calling him a “monkey.”

_

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Report Error Submit a Tip

Sports Breaking News

LOAD MORE