UEFA hands Benfica wonderkid Gianluca Prestianni six-match ban for making homophobic remarks..

UEFA announced on its official website on Friday that Benfica's Argentina international winger wonderkid Gianluca Prestianni has been given six-match ban for making homophobic remarks during the Champions League match against Real Madrid several months ago.

According to UEFA's official statement, the Ethics and Disciplinary Committee conducted an independent investigation into Prestianni's controversial behaviour. The investigation found that Prestianni made homophobic remarks during the match, which contradicts the gender equality values advocated by goveing body and the international football community.

To punish the individual and set a warning, UEFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee decided to invoke Article 14 – the disciplinary rules for homophobic remarks and racism – to ban Prestianni for six matches in UEFA competitions, three of which will be suspended for two years.

Meanwhile, since this ban already includes a match where Prestianni was provisionally suspended for in February, his suspended three-match ban could be lifted if he doesn't commit this offense again. In that case, he would only need to be suspended for two more matches im in UEFA competitions.

However, it's worth mentioning that UEFA's statement made no mention of the allegations of his racial discrimination against Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior.

On the other hand, according to reports from The Athletic, UEFA has further sought to have FIFA extend Prestiani's ban globally.

The governing body believe that Prestiani's simultaneous homophobic remarks and racial allegations charges constitute a serious offense, and given the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico will be held this summer, UEFA deems it necessary to further punish the player severely.

This ugly controversy occurred on February 17, 2026, during Benfica's UEFA Champions League Round of 16s play-off match against Real Madrid. 

During the match, Prestianni suddenly pulled up his shirt collar and covered his mouth, seemingly calling Vinícius "a monkey" several times.

Upon hearing this, Vinícius immediately left the pitch, halting the game for nearly 10 minutes. During this time, his teammate Kylian Mbappé also spoke out, condemning Prestianni as a "disgusting racist" and demanding he leave the stadium.

After the match, Prestianni maintained that he did not racially abused Vinícius, but rather made some homophobic slurs at him.

Benfica head coach José Mourinho also argued that Prestianni "could not be a racist" because the club's greatest player in history was the late legend Eusébio who is of African descent.

However, his statement drew criticism from numerous media outlets in Europe and America, including DAZN Canada, as well as Bayern Munich head coach Vincent Kompany, who considered it naive and extremely irresponsible.

Both the DAZN journalists and Kompany ridiculed Mourinho, saying that when Eusébio played for Benfica, Mourinho was still an infant, and unless he was already in the footballing industry of that time (the early 1960s), he simply wouldn't know the extent to which the greatest Portuguese legend, who was born in Mozambique, was discriminated against because of his skin color and racial background.

On February 22, 2026, UEFA's Ethics and Disciplinary Committee announced an investigation into the incident.

Two days later, UEFA announced an administrative ban of Prestianni for one match, confirming that if convicted, the player would face a 10-match ban, a fine, or both. Benfica immediately stated they would appeal the ban thereafter.

Meanwhile, The Times revealed that Prestianni claimed that the Real Madrid forward repeatedly called him a "dwarf," prompting his response with "homophobic slurs," but this explanation and appeal were immediately rejected by UEFA.

Image source: Internet / DAZN Canada