Alvaro Arbeloa and Thibaut Courtois have called on Uefa to take a genuine stand against racism and change football following the alleged racist abuse of Vinícius Júnior by Gianluca Prestianni during Real Madrid’s Champions League playoff first leg at Benfica last week, with Arbeloa imploring the governing body to go beyond “just slogans” as the two teams prepare to meet again.
Courtois, meanwhile, also expressed his disappointment with José Mourinho for linking the incident to Vinícius’s celebration of the only goal of the game in Lisbon and insisted suggestions that Prestianni’s defence might be that he instead used a homophobic slur would be “just as bad”.
Last Tuesday’s game at the Estádio da Luz was delayed for 10 minutes after Vinícius informed the referee, François Letexier, that Prestianni had racially abused him, with teammate Kylian Mbappé later accusing his opponent of calling Vinícius a “monkey” five times. Prestianni has travelled to Madrid for the return leg after Benfica appealed against the provisional one-match ban handed to him by Uefa while they conduct an investigation.
“We have a great chance to mark a before and after,” Arbeloa, Madrid’s head coach, said. “Uefa has flown the flag for anti-racism and we now have a chance to not leave that as just a slogan, a nice banner to bring out before games, but to make it real.”
Courtois said: “This a good moment for football to end these things. In the dressing room we know what Vinícius told us. It has happened many times in football; not just on the pitch but in the stands. We have to end this now. Uefa will decide what they have to do – the players do not matter in that – but it would be a good message [to act].
“With Prestianni, it will always be word against word and they [Benfica] will believe what their players says. We have 100% with Vini. Vini has had thousands of battles and has never said anything like this. We know Vini heard it 100% and I believe him 100%. Because he [Prestianni] covered his mouth, we won’t know what was said, so Benfica will defend their player and there is not much more we can do now. It is Uefa who have to decide what they want to decide.”
The Belgian goalkeeper added: “In the end, Mourinho is Mourinho: as a coach you are always going to defend your club and what your player said. The only thing that disappoints me a bit is him using Vini’s celebration. Vini didn’t do anything bad. You can’t justify an alleged act of racism with a celebration.”
When it was put to Courtois that there is footage which appears to show Prestianni using a homophobic slur, he replied: “After the game, Aurélien [Tchouaméni] said that. It seems as bad to me. Those are homophonic insults and it’s as serious. I have also seen images of [racist gestures in] the stands at Benfica during the game and I think it’s deplorable. You can like a player more or less but those gestures are lamentable.
“I don’t know if Benfica will pursue those fans who did monkey gestures. A lot of things have not been handled well. Racism, homophobia: we cannot accept those things ever. And if he didn’t cover his mouth there, we can imagine what he said when he did cover his mouth.”
Speaking before Benfica travelled to Madrid, the club’s president, Rui Costa, reiterated the club’s belief in Prestianni’s innocence. “I’m not on the pitch to know what was said or not said, but as you can imagine, in a situation like that, a lot is said. But we believe in our player’s word, because more than that, we know the players we have at home,” said the former Portugal midfielder. “Therefore, Prestianni is being crucified as a racist person, and I can guarantee that he is anything but racist, and that is why we have such confidence in him as a player.
“Benfica stands for as an inclusive club, an anti-racist club, which would never allow racist players in its squad. This is a point I want to make very clear.”
