Uefa provisionally suspends Benfica’s Prestianni over Vinícius incident

Uefa has provisionally suspended Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni for Wednesday’s Champions League playoff match against Real Madrid after allegations that he racially abused Vinícius Júnior during last week’s first leg. The ban has been imposed pending the completion of a Uefa investigation and Benfica said they would appeal.

Vinícius alleged Prestianni racially abused him during Madrid’s 1-0 win in Lisbon, prompting Uefa to appoint an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate. Uefa said further punishment could be handed out once its investigation has been completed, and that the provisional ban was “without prejudice to any ruling that the Uefa disciplinary bodies may subsequently make following the conclusion of the ongoing investigation and its respective submission to the Uefa disciplinary bodies”.

If Uefa finds the Argentinian guilty of racism he could face a 10-match ban. Prestianni has denied racist abuse.

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