Rio Ferdinand has shared new footage of Benfica fans who appear to make racist gestures during their Champions League match against Real Madrid.
Vinicius Junior's goal in Los Blancos' 1-0 victory was overshadowed by the Brazilian making accusations that Gianluca Prestianni had racially abused him. Making the alleged incident known to the referee, play was suspended for 10 minutes before both teams returned to the pitch.
Kylian Mbappe has since accused Prestianni of calling Vinicius 'a monkey' five times prior to the suspension of play. The Argentine has since denied the accusations against him.
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior with teammates as the match was stopped due to racist chants Related
Thierry Henry Delivers Powerful Speech After Vinicius Accuses Prestianni of Racist Abuse
Thierry Henry didn't hold back when reacting to Vinicius Junior accusing Gianluca Prestianni of racist abuse in Benfica 0-1 Real Madrid.
Ferdinand Defends Vinicius After Racist Abuse Accusations
Rio Ferdinand
Rio Ferdinand
Madrid players have thrown their support behind Vinicius in the aftermath of the match, as have many pundits. And Ferdinand has now made his thoughts clear in a viral video posted on his social media accounts.
Mocking those who criticised Vinicius for celebrating prior to the incident, the former Manchester United defender went on to say: "How are we still sitting here talking about racism for one? But then how are we sitting here trying to justify when someone says something racist, because 'Oh, it's Vini's fault, if Vini didn't do that, the kid wouldn't say this, the kid wouldn't say that'?
"I'm not accepting it. You can't accept this. Football is called the beautiful game because it is a beautiful game, but this type of rubbish sets it back so much.
"And the authorities have to be stronger on these things. We keep saying it, but I can't understand how we keep trying to justify someone's poor behaviour, their ignorance, downright stupidness just because someone scored an unbelievable goal, a spectacular goal and he celebrates.
"Celebrations are a part of the game! If the authorities think they're going to start saying, 'You can't do this and you'll get a yellow card for this'—he's getting booked for celebrating! How many times have we loved seeing someone put their shirt up and go, 'That's me. I'm the guy.' They've dreamed about doing this stuff man!"
Later in the video, Ferdinand went on to praise the behaviour of Madrid stars, including Mbappe and Trent Alexander-Arnold, for sticking up for their teammate.
"Shout out to Kylian Mbappe and other guys on the pitch who heard [what was said] and have come out and said, 'We ain't having that'. I'm really interested to see how the authorities now deal with this situation. Because you've got a great player who's scored a goal and made the stadium upset, but people around the world are going, 'Wow, what a moment'. And it's been ruined and tarnished by the behaviour of one stupid individual."
Check Out Ferdinand's Full Video Below:
Ferdinand Shares Separate Incident of Racist Abuse
Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior and Benfica's Nicolas Otamendi clash as referee Francois Letexier stops the match due to racist chants
While Ferdinand was speaking solely about Prestianni's behaviour in that video, he has since been made aware of another incident of racial abuse. Sharing a video on X, the footage appears to show fans in the stand making monkey gestures at players on the pitch. It's not known whether this was before or after Vinicius alerted the referee to the alleged comments made by Benfica's 20-year-old.
UEFA have since confirmed in a statement that reports from officials are being reviewed to determine next steps. They went on to add: "Where matters are reported, proceedings are opened and should they lead to disciplinary sanctions being imposed, they are announced on the UEFA disciplinary website.
"We have no further information to provide you or any further comment to make on this matter at this stage."