Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni has spoken about his conflict with Vinicius Jr for the first time in an interview.
On February 17th a first-leg Champions League play-off between Benfica and Real Madrid was stopped when the referee enacted anti-racism protocol.
Vinicius Jr was seen exchanging words with Prestianni before sprinting to the referee and the game was stopped.
Prestianni had his mouth covered by his shirt, but Kylian Mbappe told the media post-match he heard the word ‘mono’ (monkey) five times.
The Argentine was banned from the return leg that Benfica lost, and a UEFA investigation is yet to produce results.
Discussing the incident with Telefe while on international duty, Prestianni said: “I thought about my mother, my father, and my grandparents having to hear so many things that I am not and that never happened.
“For me, as a footballer, it’s one thing, I’m used to people saying things. But for them it’s another thing.
“I don’t know if I was that worried about what might happen. But what bothered me was being accused of being racist, something I never have been and never will be.
“I also have to be very grateful to Benfica club, who believed in me and supported me in everything, and my teammates also showed me that support internally, and that means much more to me than posting a ‘story’ on Instagram.”
Prestianni went on to claim he wasn’t racist but instead homophobic, but rather than apologising, said such insults are ‘normal’.
Reiterating claims he said the word maricón (f*ggot) he finished: “For us Argentinians, it’s a normal insult to call someone a coward or a f*ggot.”
Leave a Reply