FOOTBALL star Vinicius Junior has alleged he was subjected to racist abuse during Real Madrid’s Champions League knockout phase play-off with Benfica. The game was subsequently paused for 10 minutes, writes Sam French.
The Brazilian forward reported the incident to referee Francois Letexier shortly after putting the Spanish side 1-0 ahead early in the second half at the Estadio da Luz. The referee responded by making the crossed-arms gesture, a signal introduced by FIFA in May 2024 to indicate racist abuse has been observed or reported.
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Vinicius, 25, had just been booked for his celebration following his 50th-minute strike when tensions escalated. After an exchange with Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni near the halfway line, the Real Madrid forward quickly approached the referee while gesturing towards his opponent.
Vini has been subject to this a few times throughout his career
In a statement, Real Madrid said Vinicius informed the referee he had been racially abused by Prestianni. The Brazil international then walked off the pitch, followed by his team-mates, prompting a temporary suspension of the match. Play resumed after approximately 10 minutes later.
The game was eventually completed, with Real Madrid holding on for a 1-0 victory after 12 minutes of stoppage time. During the closing stages, an object was also thrown from the crowd and struck Vinicius on the arm.
After the final whistle, Vinicius posted a strongly worded message on Instagram condemning the incident.
“Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are,” he wrote. “Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life.
“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”
Prestianni denied directing racist abuse towards Vinicius.
“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard,” the 20-year-old said. “I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
Meanwhile, Benfica manager Jose Mourinho was seen speaking with Vinicius after the forward led his team off the pitch.
In his post-match interview, Mourinho said he had been told different versions of events by Vinicius and Prestianni and insisted he would remain “independent”.
He did, however, criticise the Brazilian’s goal celebration and rejected any suggestion Benfica is a racist club, pointing to the legacy of club legend Eusebio.
Asked whether he felt Vinicius had 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.
“I told [Vinicius], when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club was Black.”
“This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this is Benfica. They told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be an independent.”
Significantly, Real Madrid defender Trent Alexander-Arnold described the alleged abuse of his team-mate as a “disgrace to football”.
“What has happened is a disgrace to football and overshadowed the performance, as well as an amazing goal. Vini has been subject to this a few times throughout his career. To ruin a night like this for our team is a disgrace. There is no place for it in football or society. It is disgusting.”
Former Real Madrid midfielder Clarence Seedorf, working as a pundit for Amazon Prime, said Mourinho had “made a big mistake to justify racial abuse”.
“I think he is still emotional,” Seedorf said. “He’s saying it’s OK, when Vinicius provokes you, to be racist and I think that is very wrong.”
“We should never, ever justify racial abuse. Vinicius has had enough of that unjustified behaviour from people. I know Mourinho by heart would agree with me but he expressed himself a bit unfortunately.”
Former Arsenal and England forward Theo Walcott also condemned Mourinho’s remarks. “I am quite calm and composed and I am not someone who gets angry often,” Walcott said.
“I love everything Jose Mourinho has done in football but he has made a poor decision. It was maybe the one time we shouldn’t have heard from him, the one night he should not have been in front of the cameras.”
Speaking on CBS, the American broadcaster, former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry reflected on his own experiences of racist abuse.
“I can relate to what Vinicius Junior is going through. That happened to me so many times on the field. At times you feel lonely because it’s going to be your word against his word, because we don’t know what he has said,” Henry said.
I love everything Jose Mourinho has done in football but he has made a poor decision. It was maybe the one time we shouldn’t have heard from him
“He put his shirt over his mouth. Clearly, already, he looks suspicious because he didn’t want people to see what he said.” “Let’s see how big of a man Prestianni is, tell us what you said.”
This event is the latest in a long line of incidents involving Vinicius. In 2022, Atletico Madrid condemned “unacceptable” chants directed at him before a derby, while an effigy of the forward was later hung from a bridge near Real Madrid’s training ground, leading to fines and stadium bans.
In 2023 he was racially abused during a match at Valencia, prompting Real to file a hate crime complaint.
In 2024 the club lodged a protest after alleged abuse was omitted from a referee’s report following a game against Osasuna.
Then, in May 2025, five people received suspended prison sentences for racially abusing him during a match against Real Valladolid. These were the first convictions of their kind in Spain related to racism at a football match.
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