Champions League: Real Madrid players leave field after Vinicius Jr. faces alleged racial abuse by Benfica's Prestianni

The Real Madrid vs Benfica Champions League play-off leg 1 match turned ugly on Tuesday (Feb 17) at Estadio da Luz after Real's Vinicius Jr. was allegedly abuses with racial taunts by an opposition player. The Real Madrid players, along with Kylian Mbappe, showed solidarity with Vini and left the field as well. The match was halted for 10 minutes just after Vinicius scored the only goal of the match across both sides. Vinicius alleged that 20-year-old Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni used racial taunts and went to referee Francois Letexier who made the cross arm gesture to indicate racial abuse has happened in the match. Real, however, won the match 1-0, thanks to the 50th minute goal by Vinicius Jr.

What did Prestianni say to Vinicus Jr.?

After the match, Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe hit out at Prestianni for the racial abuse against Vinicius Jr. Calling for a permanent ban on him, Mbappe revealed: "The Benfica player wearing no.25 (Prestianni), I won't say his name because he doesn't deserve it.... he puts his shirt over his mouth to say, 'Vini is a monkey' five times. I heard it... this player does not deserve to play in the Champions League."

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Vinicius Jr. also called out the racism, a repeated thing against him, and wrote on Instagram: "Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are. But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them," read a part of the post. Have a look at the video of aftermath of incident:

What is the punishment of racism in UEFA Champions League matches?

As per UEFA's Disciplinary Regulations, Article 14 on racism and other discriminatory conduct, player found guilty of racist behavior - such as insulting the human dignity of a person or group on grounds including race, skin color, ethnic origin, etc.- incurs a suspension lasting at least ten matches.