French referee Francois Letexier has shared his thoughts on the controversial incident during the Champions League match between Real Madrid and Benfica. In the 51st minute, after Vinicius Junior scored, a confrontation occurred with opposing player Gianluca Prestianni, and the Brazilian star informed the referee that he had been subjected to racial abuse. This is reported by Goal.com .
Letexier noted that the situation was difficult to assess immediately. According to the referee, he could not issue a red card for an incident he did not personally see or hear, but he made it his priority to formalize the situation by triggering UEFA's anti-discrimination protocol.
This measure helped all participants in the stadium understand the seriousness of the situation. The referee defended his decision, emphasizing that it is impossible to apply disciplinary sanctions without evidence, but that a player's complaint should not be ignored.
Later, the UEFA Disciplinary Committee suspended Gianluca Prestianni for six matches. Although the player denied the racism allegations, he admitted to using other types of offensive language. FIFA extended this ban internationally, which could affect the player's participation with the Argentina national team.
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