Mourinho breaks his silence after heavy criticism over Vinicius Junior incident

Jose Mourinho was heavily criticised after accusing Vinicius Junior of inciting the Benfica crowd amid allegations that the Real Madrid star was on the receiving end of a racial slur from Gianluca Prestianni

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho has insisted he will not look at Gianluca Prestianni “in the same way” if the Argentine is found guilty of directing a racial slur towards Vinicius Junior. Benfica winger Prestianni was accused of directing the slur at the Real Madrid star during their Champions League playoff first-leg fixture on February 17.

The confrontation between them led to a 10-minute delay in play as referee Francois Letexier initiated UEFA’s formal anti-racism protocol. The European footballing governing body handed Prestianni a provisional one-match suspension while an ethics and disciplinary inspector investigates the allegations further. He denies racially abusing the Brazilian.

It meant the 26-year-old was suspended for the second leg of their Champions League tie against Real on Wednesday night. The Spanish giants won 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu to progress 3-1 on aggregate.

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Mourinho was heavily criticised after accusing Vinicius Jr of inciting the crowd with his goal celebration before the alleged racial slur in the first leg. And he has now broken his silence on the criticism in a pre-match press conference before Benfica’s league fixture at Gil Vicente on Monday night.

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He said: “If he is indeed guilty, I will no longer look at him the same way, and it will be over with me. I absolutely condemn all forms of discrimination and idiocy.

“If my player has not respected the principles, which are mine and those of Benfica, his career will end with me.”

Benfica have also denied claims that Prestianni admitted to his team-mates that he had racially abused Vinicius Jr.

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In a statement, they said: “Sport Lisboa e Benfica categorically denies that the player Prestianni has communicated to the squad or the club’s structure that he has uttered a racist insult to the player Vinicius Jr, from Real Madrid.

“As has already been made public, the player apologised to his teammates for the incident that occurred during the match against Real Madrid, regretting the dimension and consequences of it and assuring everyone, as he has done since the first hour, that he is not racist.”

Prestianni has publicly denied the allegations saying his opponent had “misinterpreted”. He could be banned for 10 matches if found guilty.

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