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By The Canadian Press

UEFA bans Prestianni for six games over Vinicius Junior incident

Apr 24, 2026 | 7:37 AM

NYON, Switzerland (AP) — UEFA handed Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni a six-game ban on Friday for verbally abusing Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League game earlier this season.

A UEFA statement said Prestianni’s comments were “discriminatory (i.e. homophobic) conduct.”

UEFA said three of those six games were on probation, and he has already served one game of a provisional punishment already. That means Prestianni will initially only need to serve out two more games of the suspension, which UEFA said could include appearances with Argentina at the World Cup if he were selected for the June tournament.

Argentina’s first two games are against Algeria on June 17 in Kansas City and Austria five days later in Arlington.

The incident happened during a game in Lisbon between the teams in February.

The game was halted for nearly 10 minutes after the Brazil forward scored and celebrated by the Benfica corner flag, upsetting local fans and players. After being confronted by Prestianni, Vinícius accused the Argentine player of calling him a “monkey.”

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press