Vinicius Jr refuses to play over ‘racist abuse’ as Madrid game halted | Football | Sport

The Champions League match between Real Madrid and Benfica was suspended for a massive 10 minutes after Vinicius Jr alleged he had been the victim of racist abuse. The incident happened during the second half after the Brazil international fired what proved to be the winning goal at the Estadio da Luz.

He cut inside and worked some space for himself before bending an unbelievable shot into the top corner from the tightest of angles. The Real goalscorer was subsequently booked for his celebrations, which saw him do a Brazilian style samba dance by the corner flag. However, his jubilation turned to horror and anger when he told the referee he had heard racist abuse aimed at him. After informing the referee, he walked over to his dugout and sat inside, which resulted in the match being delayed. 

While he was there, the likes of Jose Mourinho, who is now in charge of the Portuguese heavyweights, could be seen speaking to the Brazilian. Referee Francois Letexier then set about signalling the initiation of UEFA’s anti-racism protocol.

An announcement was made over the public address system urging any racist behaviour in the crowd to be stopped immediately. After a stoppage of around 10 minutes, the game eventually restarted.

Letexier also issued a red card to a member of the Benfica coaching staff during the stop in play. In the 85th minute, in a separate incident, Mourinho was issued a red card for his protestations against a decision on the pitch.

It summed up a tense and unpleasant evening of football at the Estadio da Luz. After the incident unfolded, former referee turned analyst Mark Clattenburg offered his thoughts. 

He said: “As a referee, I have had this situation before when players have reported a racial comment on the field of play. All he can do is make the report. Afterwards, then UEFA will look into this. As a referee it is very difficult in this situation.”

There were 12 minutes of added time, mainly as a result of the delay to the game. There were also incidents of objects being thrown at players, with Vinicius being hit by a bottle of water as he was about to take a corner in the final exchanges. 

In added time, while marking Vinicius at a corner, Benfica defender Nicolas Otamendi also taunted him by lifting his shirt up and  refering to the tattoos of the World Cup and Copa America trophies he has tattooed on his torso. 

It’s not the first time Benfica supporters have been accused of racist abuse by a player. In 2006, Manchester United issued a formal complaint to UEFA after Louis Saha and Patrice Evra endured monkey chants and other racist abuse while playing against the Portuguese side in the Champions League.