Real Madrid’s Champions League play-off tie at Benfica was suspended for 10 minutes after Vinicius Junior reported allegations of racist abuse and he and his teammates left the pitch.
After speaking with Vinicius, referee François Letexier crossed his arms to signal the racist abuse.
The Brazilian forward was booked for excessive celebration after giving the Spanish visitors a 1-0 lead in the second half at the Estadio da Luz.
After an interaction with Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni, Vinicius ran towards referee Letexier while gesturing towards the opposing player.
Real Madrid said in a statement that Vinicius told the referee that he had been subjected to racial abuse by the Argentine winger.
Vinicius then left the pitch, followed by his Real Madrid teammates, but the game restarted 10 minutes later, in the 60th minute.
Real won the game 1-0 with 12 minutes left, and an object thrown from the stands hit Vinicius in the arm.
After the game, Vinicius released a statement on Instagram condemning the incident.
“Racists are, above all, cowards. They should show how weak they are by putting their shirts in their mouths,” Vinicius said.
“But they protect others who, in theory, have a duty to punish them. What happened today is nothing new in my life or the lives of our team.
“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t know why. On the other hand, it was just poor protocol that served no purpose.”
Prestianni denied directing racist abuse against Vinicius.
“I want to make it clear that at no time did I direct racist insults at Vinny Jr. It was a regrettable misunderstanding of what he thought he heard,” the 20-year-old said.
“I have never committed racism against anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”
