The smoke is yet to clear following last night’s controversy that took place at the Estadio da Luz, but one person is looking to move past the incident. Gianluca Prestianni´s agent has chimed in on the alleged racial abuse, urging people to put the events of last night in the rearview.
Prestianni denies claims
It all went down in the moments following a wonder goal from Vinicius in the 50th minute that put Real Madrid up a goal to the good in the first leg of the Champions League play-off round. The Brazilian celebrated his goal by doing a dance in the corner flag, and chaos ensued as object from the fans reigned down around the huddle of Madrid players that surrounded Vinicius.
As the scorer of the opening goal of the two legged tie was heading back to the center circle, he was met head on by Gianluca Prestianni who apparently didn’t appreciate the celebration of the No. 7 after his golazo.
After an exchange, between the Argentinian and the Brazilian, Prestianni put his shirt over his mouth and uttered something that Vinicius immediately went to report to the referee that Prestianni had called him as “monkey.”
“Only Prestianni and Vinicius will know”
The referee stopped the game, and Vinicius walked off of the pitch as the minutes past as mandatory during an incident of racial abuse. The reaction around the world has been swift and it has fallen all on the Benfica midfielder, who claimed on his social media that he has “never been racist with anyone, and I lament the threats I received from the Real Madrid players.”
Now the midfielders agent has jumped to his defense, claiming “Champions League match, high emotions, Vinicius and a separate incident with the Benfica fans, an argument where Gianluca defended his team against the visiting player’s disrespect towards their supporters... I was on the pitch and that’s what I saw. Then there’s everything that comes with having a global star like Vinicius. There are countless images of footballers covering their mouths with their shirts or even their own hands so their lips can’t be read... From there to an act of racism, I think there are many ways to gain an advantage... I believe in and trust Gianluca because he has the knowledge and professionalism to behave like an elite footballer. Let’s be fair and put the theatrics aside. Only Prestianni and Vinicius will know what was said to each other.”
On Wednesday, UEFA announced they are officially launching an investigation to determine what was said during the exchange between the two players. Real Madrid won the first leg match away from home, and scores will be settled next Wednesday, February 25th.