During the Champions League match between Benfica and Real Madrid at Estádio da Luz, Vinicius Jr accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of racial abuse after scoring to give his team the lead. The game paused for 10 minutes as players from both sides left the pitch amid the disturbance.
Mourinho’s Post-Match Comments
Jose Mourinho, Benfica’s manager, addressed the incident afterward, suggesting Vinicius Jr’s goal celebration provoked the Benfica players and crowd. He stated: “Yeah, I believe so. I want to be independent, I don’t want to say I believe Prestianni and don’t believe Vini because they said two completely different things. I want to be independent, and I don’t comment about it.”
Mourinho added: “I told him, ‘When you score a goal like that, you just celebrate and walk back.’ When he was arguing about racism, I told him, ‘The biggest person in the history of this club [Benfica] was black. This club, the last thing it is, is racist. If in his mind it was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.”
These remarks drew criticism from figures including Wayne Rooney, Clarence Seedorf, and Theo Walcott.
Rosenior’s Press Conference Reaction
Chelsea manager Liam Rosenior faced questions on the matter during his pre-match press conference ahead of the Premier League clash with Burnley. He defended Vinicius Jr emotionally, stressing that racism remains unacceptable in football and society.
Rosenior said: “It’s upsetting. There’s context that needs to be had in terms of this situation. Always there has to be context to it. What I will say, you can see any form of racism in society, let alone football, is unacceptable. It’s unacceptable. I cannot speak about an incident where an investigation is ongoing. I won’t speak about that incident.”
He continued: “What I would say is when you see a player upset, how Vinicius Junior was upset, normally they’re upset for a reason. I’ve been racially abused myself. I know people have been racially abused. What people have to understand is when you are judged for something that you should be proud of, it is the worst feeling you can ever possibly imagine. There are historical things to racism. I need to, as manager of this unbelievable football club, make my statement on it.”
Rosenior emphasized: “If any player or any coach or any manager has ever found guilty of racism, they shouldn’t be in the game. It’s as simple as that for me. What I will not do categorically is talk about one incident when there’s an ongoing investigation.”
Response to Mourinho Specifically
When pressed on Mourinho’s suggestion that Vinicius provoked the situation, Rosenior avoided direct commentary. He reiterated: “Again, it’s context. What I would say is regardless how a player celebrates, race should never come into it. That is an ongoing investigation. What I’m not going to do, I don’t know the context of the situation. I don’t know the context in which Jose said what he said, and I won’t make a judgement on it.”
He added: “It’s the same thing. I won’t make a judgement until you get the facts. It’s difficult for me to make a judgement. What I will say is if any player or any coach is ever found guilty of racism, they shouldn’t be in the game. It’s as simple as that.”
Chelsea sit fifth in the Premier League and aim for victory over relegation-battling Burnley on Saturday afternoon.
