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Benfica coach José Mourinho raised his tone this Sunday (1st) when speaking about the case involving the Argentine winger Gianluca Prestianni, accused of racism by Vinícius Júnior during a match against Real Madrid.
During the pre-match press conference ahead of the clash with Gil Vicente in the Portuguese Championship, the coach once again defended the presumption of innocence for the player, but made it clear, for the first time, that he will be strict if the accusations are confirmed.
I repudiate any kind of discrimination, prejudice, and ignorance. I also advise everyone to read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. If my player did not respect these principles, which are mine and Benfica’s, his career with a coach named Mourinho and at a club like Benfica comes to an end.
Although he gave, for the first time, a strong statement about the case, the Portuguese coach repeated the word "if" several times, insisting that the player has the right to the presumption of innocence.
"If the player is indeed guilty, I will not look at him the same way I have, and with me, it’s over, but I have to put a lot of 'ifs' ahead," he said.
Message for Arbeloa and criticism of UEFA
Mou’s statement came in the wake of criticism made by Álvaro Arbeloa, Real Madrid’s coach.
Mourinho expressed his affection for the Spaniard ("I love Álvaro"), but defended that he made the right decision by remaining neutral and not "taking sides" immediately after the incident in Madrid, opting for impartiality in such a serious case.
Finally, there was also criticism for UEFA. Mourinho criticized the way the organization handled Prestianni’s preventive suspension.
In an ironic tone, the coach said the organization "discovered article 4206328" to be able to quickly remove the player, but failed by not using the conditional ("if") when addressing the player’s alleged guilt.
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.