#racism-in-football

#racism-in-football

Benfica have condemned the "smear campaign" to which their player Gianluca Prestianni has been subjected following allegations that he racially abused Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior. Vinícius accused Prestianni of racially abusing him during the teams' UEFA Champions League playoff first leg on Tuesday, leading the match to be paused for 10 minutes in the second half. UEFA announced on Wednesday it will investigate the allegations.

The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount, the team said in a statement posted online. Our decision should be understood in that context. The club also said it had been working to stamp out racism within the more extreme elements of its fan base. Our first-team squad consists of Muslims, Christian and Jewish players and our fan base also crosses the ethnic and religious divide, it said.

"Thanks to the state-of-the-art surveillance system at the Allianz Stadium, including a multifocal camera system, law enforcement authorities were able to first identify and subsequently confirm the identities of three visiting supporters who, as announced at the end of the match, were responsible for making discriminatory and racist remarks towards Juventus player Weston McKennie while he was training on the pitch after the match," Juventus said in a statement Friday.

MADRID -- Spanish club Valencia said on Monday they filed a lawsuit against Netflix claiming falsehoods in a documentary about Brazil player Vinícius Júnior. Valencia said the documentary mistakenly accused a large group of Valencia fans of making racist chants against the Real Madrid forward in a LaLiga match in 2023. The club filed the lawsuit after its public demands for corrections by the documentary's production company were not fulfilled. The lawsuit is against Netflix and the production company for damaging "Valencia's honor." It seeks financial compensation, corrections of the subtitles in the documentary, and the publication of the sentencing, the club said.

The supervisory committee is investigating the incidents and initiating investigations against the respective clubs, a spokesman for the DFB told Germany's DPA news agency on Monday.

Leah Williamson trained with the team ahead of the Euro 2025 semifinal against Italy, boosting the squad's morale following her recent ankle injury.