The ruling stems from an incident involving Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr.
Advertisement
UEFA’s control, ethics and disciplinary body (CEDB) initially imposed a six-match suspension on Prestianni on April 24 for his “homophobic conduct.”
This followed the player’s admission of using homophobic language towards Vinicius during a Champions League match on February 17. An accusation of racial abuse against Vinicius was not proven.
Of the six-match ban, three matches were suspended for a period of two years, while one had already been provisionally served during the return match between the two teams. Football’s world governing body FIFA has now accepted UEFA’s request to extend this ban globally.
The extended ban applies to official international matches, directly affecting Argentina’s opening World Cup matches, but not pre-tournament friendlies.
Advertisement
A FIFA spokesperson confirmed: “The FIFA disciplinary committee has decided to extend the six-match ban imposed by UEFA on SL Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni to have effect worldwide. The sanction has been extended in accordance with article 70 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code.”
Given that Prestianni has only played once for Argentina, the worldwide extent of the suspension makes his selection for the World Cup highly unlikely. Therefore, it is anticipated that the suspension will likely be served during next season’s Champions League campaign.
In the incident itself, Prestianni covered his mouth while speaking to Vinicius after the Brazilian scored for Real in the match in Lisbon.
In response to such actions, FIFA put forward a proposal in late February for players who cover their mouths when facing an opponent to receive a red card.
Advertisement
This proposal received unanimous approval at a special meeting of the International Football Association (Ifab) Board in Vancouver last week, giving competitions the discretion to apply this sanction.