Vinicius left the Da Luz stadium in silence after experiencing another racist episode that overshadowed the beauty of his goal against Benfica, securing Real Madrid's path to the Champions League. "Nothing that happened today is new in my life and that of my family," confessed the Brazilian on social media. There have been more than a dozen complaints of being called a "monkey" in a stadium, but always from the stands, never by another player on the pitch, as Vinicius - and Mbappé - reported that Prestianni had done.
In this case, there are no images or sound, no burden of proof to certify without a doubt that there was a serious racist insult, and although the French referee Letexier believed him and followed the protocol, it will be UEFA that determines whether or not there will be a sanction for the Argentine player. In LaLiga, there are precedents of similar complaints that were never punished.
The memory remains of that night on May 21, 2023, at Mestalla, when he pointed out three fans in the stands for insults and gestures, stopped the match, and threatened to leave the field. Real Madrid did not leave, but that gesture went viral, gaining a magnitude that exceeded reality. LaLiga reported the three fans, banned for life by Valencia from the stadium, and they were sentenced to eight months in prison for racist insults.
That was the last straw in a series of incidents since October 2021. At Camp Nou, another fan, who could not be identified, called him a "monkey," and the case was closed by the Prosecutor's Office. The same happened in May 2022 at Son Moix. In December, in Valladolid and under Ronaldo's presidency, five fans shouted "shitty black" at him, and they were judged and sentenced to a year in prison for a hate crime.
Just a month later, before the derby against Atlético in January 2023, a doll was hung that resembled the international player. The perpetrators were identified and sentenced to between seven and 15 months in prison for hate crimes, and another seven months for threats. In February, it was at Son Moix, with another complaint and a new judicial statement from the player, and in March in Pamplona and at the Betis stadium.
Despite the uproar at Mestalla, little changed. In October, there were monkey gestures again at the Sánchez Pizjuán and in March, before the friendly between Spain and Brazil, Vinicius broke down in front of the press due to the weight of being the target of racist anger. He has learned to live with it, but in Lisbon, it erupted again.
The player pointed at Prestianni, without wanting to generalize to a stand that booed him throughout the rest of the match, even telling him to "go to hell" with their chants and throwing objects. However, this racist episode is considered, by those around Real Madrid, as the result of a "rude player, nothing comparable to stadium chants." That's why the club, and Vinicius, leave it all in the hands of UEFA.
What will happen to the Argentine player is something that the European football's governing body will have to determine. There are no images, no audio, Letexier did not hear anything and only activated the anti-racism protocol because Vinicius asked him to. Not even Real Madrid left the field. "I asked Vini if he wanted to continue. We are by his side, always. It cannot be tolerated. The referee told me he didn't hear anything. We would have done what Vini said," said Arbeloa. Mbappé, who claims to have heard the insult, couldn't explain why they didn't leave the field, but called for firmness.
Can the Argentine player escape a sanction? If the incident had occurred in LaLiga, there is a precedent indicating that it could. On April 4, 2021, Valencia temporarily left the field at Cádiz's stadium because defender Mouctar Diakhaby reported that Juan Cala had called him a "shitty black". Diakhaby could not continue playing, and his team had to return to compete under the threat of being awarded a loss.
The competition found no evidence, no images, to corroborate what happened, and there was no sanction. Diakhaby was not believed, leading the defender to distance himself from all the zero-tolerance campaign that LaLiga organized after Vinicius' incident at Mestalla.
Can UEFA do the same? It can, but it has an additional tool: the principle of reasonable satisfaction, allowing the Control, Ethics, and Disciplinary Committee to consider a fact as proven when it is reasonably convinced that it occurred, even based on testimonies, and has been applied in cases of racist chants, flare use, or disturbances. Now, as Mbappé pointed out, "UEFA, which has done a lot against racism, now faces a serious case."