Champions League: Benfica-Real halted briefly over Vinicius racism accusation

Real Madrid’s Champions League play-off first leg at Benfica was stopped for almost 15 minutes on Tuesday after Vinicius Junior seemed to accuse an opponent of racially abusing him.

The Brazilian forward had just opened the scoring in the 50th minute when he provoked the ire of Benfica fans and some players by celebrating in front of the home crowd in Lisbon.

After arguing with midfielder Gianluca Prestianni, Vinicius ran over to referee Francois Letexier and seemed to tell the Frenchman — who had booked him for his celebrations — that he had been called “mono”, the Spanish word for monkey, by the Argentine.

The incident sparked angry clashes between the two benches, with Letexier showing a red card to a member of the Real backroom staff.

After a break of close to 15 minutes, due to Letexier implementing the racism protocol, the match resumed.

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