Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni has attacked UEFA after the Portuguese club’s appeal against his one-match suspension for the Champions League round of 16 second leg against Real Madrid was rejected.
UEFA suspended Prestianni for one match following allegations that he racially abused Vinicius Junior. The Argentine remains adamant that the Brazilian is lying and that he did not use any offensive language towards him.
Benfica attempted to overturn the suspension, but UEFA upheld the decision, leaving Prestianni, currently in Madrid, furious just hours before the match against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu.
The 20-year-old posted a message on his Instagram account after the appeal was rejected, writing: “Punching off the ball is allowed and goes unpunished, while players are punished without evidence… They don’t even try to hide their bias towards Real Madrid. It’s a disgrace.”
The Argentine player accompanied his post with another tweet, indicating that UEFA had rejected a complaint filed by Benfica against Real Madrid player Federico Valverde, accusing him of punching Samuel Dahl in the final minutes of the first leg.
Prestianni quickly deleted the tweet, which is not expected to go unnoticed by UEFA and could result in a significant disciplinary sanction against him, in addition to the other penalty in the alleged racism case.
