On Monday, UEFA provisionally suspended Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni amid an investigation into the player’s alleged racial abuse of Vinicius Junior during the first leg of the Champions League playoff match against Real Madrid in Portugal last week, which sparked immediate widespread condemnation from football commentators across the world.

The alleged racial abuse occurred in the 51st minute of the game when play was about to restart when Vinicius abruptly sprinted towards the centre while angrily pointing at Prestianni, causing the match to be halted for more than 10 minutes, with several Real Madrid players confirming the alleged racial slurs, including Kylian Mbappé, who told reporters that the Argentine winger had called Vinicius a monkey five times.

Ahead of the return leg at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on Wednesday, UEFA announced the decision to provisionally suspend the 25-year-old upon request of an interim report from the Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector the European football governing body had appointed to investigate the incident.

“The UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) today (Monday) decided to provisionally suspend Mr Gianluca Prestianni for the next (1) UEFA club competition match for which he would otherwise be eligible for the prima facie violation of Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR) related to discriminatory behaviour,” UEFA said.

UEFA stressed that the provisional suspension was not in any way confirmation that Prestianni has been found guilty of any wrongdoing pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation, but the Argentine has become the latest high-profile footballer to be caught in the web of racial discrimination against a fellow player amid raging anger towards him in the court of public opinion.

In the wake of allegations against Prestianni, our correspondent took a dive into other footballers who were fingered for hurling racial slurs and gestures against fellow players and others, the sanctions against them, and football governing bodies’ rules against racism, as well as cases involving fans.

Governing bodies’ rules against racism

The majority of football governing bodies, including FIFA, CAF, UEFA, La Liga, and the Premier League, and others, have zero-tolerance regulations against racial discrimination, which range from match bans for players and officials, stadium closures, temporary fines, points deduction, disqualification, and stadium bans targeting specific fans.

Players and officials found guilty of racism and discrimination could face up to a 10-match ban from FIFA, UEFA, and CAF, while the Premier League, via the Football Association and La Liga, through its own national football federation, determine the appropriate punishment based on the severity of the case, which can be as long as eight matches sometimes.

Villains and Victims

Luis Suarez and Patrice Evra

This is one of the most high-profile cases in Premier League history, which happened in 2011 during a match between Liverpool and Manchester United when Suarez called Evra “negrito” on multiple occasions. The Liverpool forward admitted to the accusation but argued the reference was not racial in Uruguayan culture.

The FA rejected the explanation and ruled that the reference was abusive and racially offensive, subsequently banning Suarez for eight matches alongside a £40,000 fine. Liverpool fiercely supported Suarez, including by wearing T-shirts with his face during a pre-match warm-up.

However, the club later apologised to Evra over its public support for Suarez during the episode.

John Terry and Anton Ferdinand

A widely covered case that occurred in October 2011 during a match between Chelsea and QPR after video footage that circulated on the internet led to accusations that Terry had called Anton Ferdinand, who is the younger brother of Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand, “a fucking black cunt”.

The then England national team captain disputed the allegations, claiming that he had only said “Oi, Anton, do you think I called you a black cunt?”. He was charged with criminal racial abuse, but a United Kingdom court acquitted him of the crime despite admitting that he called Ferdinand a fucking black cunt and fucking knobhead.

In the judgment, the judge argued that the Chelsea legend uttered those words in anger. Following the court decision, the FA launched an inquiry into the incident and found Terry guilty, leading to a four-match ban and a fine of £220,000 the following year, as civil proceedings require a lower burden of proof than criminal cases.

Terry lost the England national team captaincy in the aftermath of the FA’s decision and subsequently retired from international football the same year.

Edison Cavani and friend

During his stint at Manchester United, Cavani was suspended for three matches and fined £100,000 after using the phrase “gracias negrito” (Spanish for “thanks, little black one”) while responding to a friend’s comment on his Instagram post.

The former Napoli player argued that the term has different cultural meanings in Uruguay, but the FA opposed the claim, calling it offensive, while expressing shock that such a high-profile player had not received any training from United on racial issues.

Bernardo Silva and Benjamin Mendy

In 2019, the FA banned Silva for one game and fined him £50,000 after he authored a tweet referring to his then-teammate Mendy as the child of a cartoon character from the Spanish brand “Conguitos,” a confectionery mascot that has been criticised for racial stereotyping.

Both players told the FA that the post, a side-by-side image of the character and Mendy, was meant to be an inside joke between two friends, but it was rejected by the federation, which stated that intent was irrelevant and that the content was considered offensive.

Valencia fans and Vinicius Jr

In a historic ruling in 2024, three Valencia fans were sentenced to 10 months’ probation for hate crimes after being found guilty of hurling abuse and gestures at Vinicius during a La Liga match between Real Madrid and Valencia at the Mestalla in May 2023.

During the investigations, Valencia assisted in identifying the accused and immediately expelled them from the club.

“The ruling handed down today, which is final, establishes as proven that the three defendants insulted Vinicius with shouts, gestures, and chants referring to the colour of his skin,” the Magistrate’s Court of Valencia said in a statement, marking the first conviction for a racist insult in a football stadium in Spain.

Juventus fans and Lukaku

In 2023, a sports judge gave a one-game partial stadium closure after Juventus supporters were found guilty of racially abusing Romelu Lukaku during a Coppa Italia semi-final match against Inter. Juventus later banned two fans for the incident after reviewing video footage.

Atletico Madrid and Nico Williams

Similarly, in 2024, Atlético Madrid were ordered to partially close their stadium for two La Liga matches by the Spanish Football Federation after Athletic Club player Nico Williams suffered racist abuse during a league match between the two clubs. Atlético also received an over £15,000 fine.