Brazil call for ‘rigorous’ punishments in Vinicius Junior racism case
By PA Sport Staff
The Brazilian Football Confederation has written to UEFA and FIFA stressing the need to “identify and punish” anyone guilty of racially abusing Vinicius Junior.
The Real Madrid forward reported an instance of alleged racial abuse to referee Francois Letexier after scoring in Tuesday’s Champions League play-off tie against Benfica, with the Spanish club later pointing to winger Gianluca Prestianni as the subject of the complaint.
Prestianni denied making racist comments in a post on Instagram, while his club spoke of a “defamation campaign” against him.
Letexier activated anti-racism protocols, suspending play for 10 minutes, with UEFA initiating an investigation into the incident.
Now Vinicius’ national federation, led by president Samir Xaud, has come forward to lobby the European and global governing bodies.
A statement read: “The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) asked FIFA and UEFA for rigour in punishing those involved in the new case of racism committed against Vinicius Jr.
“The CBF reinforced that it expects FIFA to monitor the case and that UEFA adopts all necessary measures to identify and punish those guilty of racial insults. To FIFA, the CBF thanked the public gesture of solidarity of its president, Gianni Infantino, and praised the changes in articles 15 and 30 of the entity’s disciplinary code, which offer new mechanisms and ways to combat and eradicate discrimination in football.
“The CBF also sent a formal request to UEFA for a thorough investigation into the acts committed against Vinicius Jr that takes into account the testimony of the victim and the people present, to identify and punish in an exemplary way those involved in the episode.”
The statement also noted: “The activation of the protocol triggered a series of racist abuses by some fans present, who racially insulted the Brazilian player and made monkey noises, as reported by European newspapers.”
Entidade cobrou investigação minuciosa e punição exemplar a todos os envolvidoshttps://t.co/cz6SodS5wb pic.twitter.com/5Vz6eqFsGD
— brasil (@CBF_Futebol) February 19, 2026
It has been reported that the UEFA probe, headed up by an ethics and disciplinary investigator, could take up to three weeks to conclude. That means Vinicius and Prestianni could come face to face again in the second leg of the play-off at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday with the case still unresolved.
Benfica coach Jose Mourinho was criticised by anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out for his comments on the incident, with the organisation suggesting he was guilty of “gaslighting”.
Mourinho told Amazon Prime: “I told (Vinicius), when you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back. They (Vinicius and Prestianni) told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be an independent.”
Mourinho added that “something happens, always” in matches where Vinicius plays.
