LISBON, Portugal (AP) 鈥� Real Madrid forward Vin铆cius J煤nior accused an opponent of racially insulting him during Tuesday’s Champions League game against Benfica, leading to the game being halted for nearly 10 minutes amid angry scenes at the Stadium of Light.
Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold called the incident 鈥渁 disgrace to football鈥� while Benfica manager Jose Mourinho said Vin铆cius had incited his players and fans by the way he celebrated his goal in the 1-0 win for Madrid.
Vin铆cius had just curled in a shot into the top corner when French referee Fran莽ois Letexier had to stop the match in the 52nd minute, making a signal with his arms to show that an accusation of racism had been made.
Benfica fans had reacted angrily to Vin铆cius celebrating his goal by dancing by the corner flag, throwing bottles and other objects toward the Madrid players. Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni then confronted Vin铆cius and said something while covering his mouth with his jersey.
The Brazil forward then suddenly pointed to his Argentine opponent and ran toward the referee.
Cameras picked up Vin铆cius telling Letexier that Prestianni called him 鈥渕onkey.鈥�
After the match, Vin铆cius posted a photo on Instagram of him celebrating by the Benfica corner flag. He wrote: 鈥淩acists are, above all, cowards. They need to cover their mouths with their shirts to show how they are weak. … Nothing that happened today is new to me in my life and in my family鈥檚 life. I was shown a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don鈥檛 know why.鈥�
When Vin铆cius made his complaint, the referee immediately stopped the match and crossed his arms above his head to start the anti-racism protocol. Vin铆cius, who is Black and has been repeatedly subjected to racist abuse in Spain, went to the sideline and sat in the dugout while play was stopped. Some of his teammates also started to walk toward the sideline.
Mbapp茅 and midfielder Aur茅lien Tchouam茅ni said the team considered leaving the field but eventually decided to continue playing. Mbapp茅 said he asked Vin铆cius to see what he wanted to do.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 happened tonight is a disgrace to football,鈥� Alexander-Arnold said after the game. 鈥淚t鈥檚 overshadowed the performance, especially after such an amazing goal. Vini has been subjected to this a few times throughout his career, and for it to happen tonight and ruin the night for us as a team is a disgrace. There鈥檚 no place for it in football or society. It鈥檚 disgusting.鈥�
The 20-year-old Prestianni just looked on from afar as Vin铆cius talked to the referee.
鈥淭he players who were near said that (Prestianni) said something ugly, that shouldn鈥檛 be said,鈥� Madrid midfielder Federico Valverde said. 鈥淚f you cover your mouth to say something it鈥檚 because you are saying something that is not nice. I鈥檓 proud of my teammates who defended Vini and of Vini.鈥�
Benfica players said Prestianni told them that he provoked Vin铆cius but never used any racist insult.
鈥淚 asked him and he said it was a normal provocation between players during a match,鈥� Benfica midfielder Leandro Barreiro said. 鈥淗e said it was nothing racist.鈥�
Both coaches, Benfica’s Mourinho and Madrid’s 脕lvaro Arbeloa, talked to Vin铆cius near the benches.
Mourinho said he did not want to say he believed one player over the other after talking to both, but criticized Vin铆cius for celebrating near the fans.
鈥淯nfortunately he was not just happy to score that astonishing goal,鈥� Mourinho told Amazon Prime. 鈥淲hen you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way.鈥�
Mourinho said he told Vin铆cius that the greatest player in Benfica’s history 鈥� Eus茅bio 鈥� was black, but seemed to question why the Real Madrid player is so frequently targeted by racist abuse.
鈥淭here is something wrong because it happens in every stadium,鈥� Mourinho said. 鈥淭he stadium where Vinicius played something happened. Always.鈥�
The referee appeared to show that he did not hear anything and gestured that Prestianni had the shirt over his mouth.
The Argentine player was not shown a yellow card and continued playing. He was substituted in the 81st and was applauded by Benfica fans.
The game restarted in the 60th and Vin铆cius was jeered loudly by the home crowd during the rest of the match.
He was hit by the bottle in the final minutes while near the sidelines in front of Benfica fans. The referee asked for an announcement to be made through the stadium’s loudspeakers to warn fans not to through objects onto the field.
Mbapp茅, who was defending Vin铆cius while Benfica players confronted his teammate, was also jeered by Benfica supporters. Cameras also showed Mbapp茅 apparently telling Prestianni that he was a racist, along with expletives.
鈥淲e can’t accept that a player who plays in Europe’s top competition behaves like that,鈥� Mbapp茅 said. 鈥淗e shouldn’t keep playing in the competition. Let’s see what happens now.鈥�
The Brazilian soccer confederation showed solidarity with Vin铆cius, saying in an X post that he was 鈥渘ot alone鈥� and that 鈥渞acism is a crime” and has 鈥渘o place in soccer anywhere.鈥� It called Vin铆cius’ decision to complain to the referee 鈥漚n example of courage and dignity. We are proud of you.”
Mourinho sent off
Mourinho, a former Madrid coach, was shown a red card in the 86th for complaining to the referee.
He said the he referee was not awarding yellow cards to the Madrid players as he should have, hinting that it was because they would miss the next game because of an accumulation of cards.
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