Prima facie means "presumed" or "based on a first impression." In other words, the UEFA, as announced in the statement released on Monday afternoon, sidelines Prestianni for "the alleged violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations related to discriminatory behavior."
Following Vinicius' complaint and subsequent statements from several teammates, including Mbappé, UEFA appointed an inspector from its Ethics and Disciplinary department to investigate all accusations against the Argentine and everything that happened during the second half of last Tuesday's match. And "at the request" of said inspector, UEFA has decided to "provisionally suspend" Prestianni for one match.
This is not a final sanction, as the European football governing body still has the investigation of the events ongoing, but the provisional suspension prevents the alleged victim and the alleged aggressor from facing each other on the Chamartin pitch. "This is without prejudice to any decision that UEFA's disciplinary bodies may subsequently take after the conclusion of the ongoing investigation," the UEFA statement points out. Prestianni could miss the match and then be acquitted, sanctioned, or the case could be closed.
A situation that Benfica will appeal, but with the match being 48 hours away, the Portuguese team's management has run out of time to enable Prestianni to play. "The club will appeal this UEFA decision, although the deadlines in question have little practical effect for the return leg," announced Da Luz's team, which will land in Madrid on Tuesday at noon with Jose Mourinho leading the expedition. The coach, however, will not attend the pre-match press conference, scheduled for the afternoon at the Bernabeu. The Portuguese was sent off in the first leg, and although that does not prevent him from facing the media, he has declined the option. He is also not expected at Chamartin, where he would not be able to approach the bench and would have to watch the match from one of the boxes. His return to the Bernabeu, therefore, is postponed for a less controversial occasion.
Sources consulted by this newspaper at the Portuguese club state that the provisional suspension sets a "dangerous precedent," but it is not the first time that UEFA has made such a decision. In 2021, Slavia Prague's player Ondrej Kudela was sanctioned with one match for racially insulting Glen Kamara of Rangers. There were no images or sound of the incident, but UEFA imposed the sanction following the statement of Bongani Zungu, Kamara's teammate, who claimed to have heard the insult. Similar to what happened with Mbappé's statements acknowledging having heard Prestianni insult Vinicius "five times."
According to UEFA's Article 14, if the investigation finds the Argentine guilty, he faces a minimum of ten-match suspension, although both Benfica and Real Madrid sources acknowledge to EL MUNDO that everything is heading towards the dismissal of the complaint due to lack of evidence. Nevertheless, Prestianni will miss the crucial return match, and UEFA will avoid further controversy in one of its matches.