Real Madrid‘s Champions League match away to Benfica was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused.
The Brazilian had just scored the opening goal of the game and was booked by the referee for his celebration which seemingly antagonised the home crowd.
When walking back to the centre circle with his Madrid team-mates, the 25-year-old was incensed by something said allegedly to him on the pitch.
Vinicius appeared to direct his ire towards Argentinian Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni, who held his shirt over his mouth while speaking to the Madrid star after his goal.
The match was then halted by referee Francois Letexier before chaos erupted inside the Estadio de Luz, with a Benfica coach shown a red card as tensions spilled over. It is unclear why he was sent off.
Former Madrid manager and Benfica boss Jose Mourinho was then seen speaking to Vinicius on the pitch, before the winger sat in the away dugout while the match was paused.
Real Madrid’s match against Benfica was halted after Vinicius Jr was allegedly racially abused
Argentinian Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni could be seen making a comment to Vinicius
Jose Mourinho could be seen speaking to the Brazilian Madrid winger after the alleged incident
Kylian Mbappe was among those visibly enraged by what had happened, with the French forward having to be held back by his team-mates.
After the incident, former Premier League referee Mark Clattenburg said on TNT sports that ‘words have been said between the players’.
He added: ‘Vinicius is not happy with what has been said. The referee is following the protocol for a racial comment that has been said.
‘Once Vinicius has approached the referee the referee now has to follow the protocol and the rules that Uefa have set out when this happens.
‘As a referee, I have had this situation before when players have reported a racial comment on the field of play. All he can do is make the report. Afterwards, then Uefa will look into this. As a referee it is very difficult in this situation.’
Alan Shearer, on commentary, added: ‘We don’t know what’s been said to him. We can see Jose Mourinho down there and he’s gone speaking to Real Madrid staff and Vini Jr himself to calm him down.
‘It’s such a shame, isn’t it? We should be talking about an excellent piece of skill and how he produced a piece of magic which this game needed.
‘Calm heads are needed because you can hear the crowd going after the players – as tough as that may be.’
Vinicius was booked after seemingly antagonising the crowd when celebrating his opener
Mourinho was shown a red card for seemingly calling for Vinicius to be sent off for a foul
Shortly after play resumed – to the sound of whistles and jeers from the crowd – Mourinho was sent off for seemingly calling for Vinicius to be shown a second yellow for a foul on Richard Rios.
And deep into the 12 minutes of stoppage time, the chaos continued in Lisbon as play was briefly halted again by the referee after a missile was thrown onto the pitch. It appeared to be a vape.
It is unclear what was said to Vinicius in Portugal but the Madrid star has been the victim of racial insults in the past.
On one occasion, three Valencia fans were given prison sentences for abusing him after an incident during a LaLiga match in May 2023 which left him in tears.
The supporters were each jailed for eight months and banned from attending football matches for two years in what were the first criminal convictions for racially abusing a footballer in Spain.
Responding to the convictions at the time, the Brazilian said: ‘Many asked me to ignore it, many others said that my fight was in vain and that I should just ‘play football’. But, as I’ve always said, I’m not a victim of racism. I am a tormentor of racists.
‘This first criminal conviction in the history of Spain is not for me. It’s for all black people. May other racists be afraid, ashamed and hide in the shadows. Otherwise, I’ll be here to collect.
‘Thank you to La Liga and Real Madrid for helping with this historic conviction. More to come…’
This is a breaking news story. More details to follow.
