Uefa bans benfica's prestianni for six games over racist slur

The UEFA has banned Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni for six games after he was accused of making a racist slur against Vinicius Junior during a ChampionsLeague match.

Racism row escalates in european football

The Argentine player was given a three-year suspension with a probationary period of two years for the incident, which occurred in the away leg of the playoff tie between Benfica and Real Madrid.

Prestianni's ban covers all UEFA club competitions and international matches, potentially affecting his World Cup prospects if selected for Argentina's national team.

UEFA has also requested FIFA to extend the suspension to global competitions.

The decision came after Prestianni was accused of making homophobic comments towards Vinicius Junior, who celebrated a goal by provoking the crowd. Despite initial denials, Prestianni later admitted to using an inappropriate phrase but claimed it was not aimed at the Brazilian player.