Jose Mourinho has been widely criticised for his comments towards Vinicius Jr after the Real Madrid forward made a racism allegation against Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni
Rio Ferdinand says Jose Mourinho is not a racist after the Portuguese manager suggested Vinicius Jr brings the abuse upon himself. Mourinho, 63, accused the Real Madrid forward of over-celebrating his goal against Benfica, moments before the exchange which saw Gianluca Prestianni allegedly racially abuse the Brazilian.
Prestianni was seen putting his shirt over his mouth before uttering a comment to Vinicius, who immediately responded by running to referee Francois Letexier, who then began UEFA's official anti-racism protocol. In his post-match interview, when asked if Vinicius antagonised the home fans, moments before his exchange with Prestianni, Mourinho said "yes," which has seen the likes of Gary Lineker accuse the ex-Chelsea and Manchester United boss of gaslighting the Brazilian.
The Argentine, who has been banned by UEFA for the second-leg but faces the prospect of a ten-match suspension, has denied calling Vinicius a "monkey" in Spanish. Looking back on Mourinho's post-match comments, Ferdinand made it clear the three-time Premier League winner took the wrong approach.
However, he insisted Mourinho is not a racist individual. Speaking on his YouTube show Rio Ferdinand Presents, the ex-United defender said: "I think Jose, in time, will sit there and go, 'Maybe I approached that wrong.’ And it doesn't make Jose Mourinho a racist by the way.
"I think Jose Mourinho has done enough for black footballers from all over the world, who look at him like a father figure, to suggest that the guy hasn't got a racist bone in his body.
"I just think he approached this situation, unfortunately, wrong. I’d love to hear what his thoughts are on it now, actually, since all of it spilled over from those comments.”
Ferdinand was alluding to Mourinho's comments not long after his former club beat Benfica 1-0 at the Estadio Da Luz. When asked if he felt Vinicius incited the crowd, Mourinho said: "Yes. I believe so. It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal. Unfortunately [he was] not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way."
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In a statement outlining their reaction to Prestianni, UEFA said: "Following the appointment of a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector (EDI) to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the UEFA Champions League 2025/2026 Knock-out Play-off match between SL Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026, and upon request of the EDI with an interim report, the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today decided to provisionally suspend Mr. Gianluca Prestianni for the next (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible for the prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) related to a discriminatory behaviour.
"This is 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. Further information about this matter will be made available in due course."
Prestianni has already taken to social media to deny accusations of racism, writing: "I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults at the player Vinicius Junior, who unfortunately misinterpreted what he thought he heard. I have never been racist and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players."