José Mourinho’s comments after alleged Vinícius racism incident are offside

Legendary soccer coach José Mourinho is never far from controversy. It’s been like that throughout his decorated, decades-long career, during which he has won pretty much everything there is to win at club level. One of his strongest traits as a manager is deflecting attention from his players and putting the spotlight on himself in pressure situations. He thrives on basking in the spotlight as the self-proclaimed “Special One”.

The manager has played this special card from his deck extremely well in the past. However, in his latest attempt to deploy it, he added fuel to a blazing fire allegedly sparked by one of his players.

The racism accusation

In the first leg of Benfica and Real Madrid’s European Champions League round-of-16 playoff match on Tuesday, 17 February, Real star Vinícius Júnior accused Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a monkey.

This was after Vinícius had scored the goal that sees 15-time European champions Real hold a 1-0 lead ahead of the second leg on 25 February. A place in the round of 16 proper will be the reward for the winning side. Benfica’s players took exception to Vinícius’s celebrations after a scintillating strike.

The forward was shown a yellow for what referee François Letexie deemed to be excessive celebrations by the Brazilian. Then a couple of minutes after Los Blancos had opened the scoring on 50 minutes, came the moment at which the match descended into complete chaos as Prestianni covered his shirt with his mouth to say something to Vinícius.

Upon hearing what had been said to him, the Brazilian attacker sprinted towards the referee, telling the official that Prestianni had volleyed a racist insult at him. Letexie halted the match in accordance with Uefa’s anti-racism protocol. It resulted in a delay of nearly 10 minutes, before the match resumed and eventually concluded with tensions high.

Mourinho’s mistimed mouthful

However, it was Mourinho’s comments after the match that painted him as someone out of touch with reality, for all his greatness.

“When he [Vinícius] was arguing about racism, I told him that the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusébio] was black. And the last thing this club is, is racist,” Mourinho said. “There is something wrong [with Vinícius] because it happens in every stadium,” he said. “A stadium where Vinícius plays, something happens, always.

“I told him: ‘When you score a goal like that you just celebrate and walk back.’ They [Vinícius and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be an independent,” the former Real manager added.

From Mourinho’s unlimited bag of tricks, this reeked of tone-deafness. Granted, whether or not Vinícius was racially abused by Prestianni is still under investigation by the authorities. Uefa, the custodian of European soccer, released a statement after the match saying it is still reviewing evidence submitted by all those involved.

“A Uefa Ethics and Disciplinary inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the 2025/26 Champions League knockout playoff between Benfica and Real Madrid on 17 February 2026,” it said.

Prestianni could be banned for as many as 10 matches if found guilty of racial abuse under Uefa’s disciplinary code. The 20-year-old has denied any wrongdoing, but Vinícius’s explosive reaction which preceded him immediately sprinting to the referee paints a different picture.

A history of racist abuse

Since his arrival in Spain in 2018, Vinícius has had to deal with numerous racist incidents. As petulant as the 25-year-old can sometimes be, why would he weaponise something which has been used to try to tear him down? It simply makes no sense. But, of course, it is his word against Prestianni’s.

Ant-discrimination organisation Kick It Out joined voices including former French striker Thierry Henry and Dutch soccer great Clarence Seedorf in condemning Mourinho’s comments on the incident.

“When anyone reports discrimination in football, or anywhere, the first priority is that they are listened to and feel supported. Focusing on Vinícius’s goal celebration or the history of the club, instead of acknowledging the report, is a form of gaslighting,” said Kick It Out.

“This approach not only harms the individual affected but also sends the wrong message to others around the world who may have experienced similar situations.

Leaders in football have a crucial role in setting standards, and moments like this call for responsible leadership that reinforces respect, inclusion and accountability,” the organisation added.

Considering that the referee or his colleagues did not hear what was said to Vinícius, the Uefa-appointed inspector will have extremely little to work with in trying to drill down to the truth. But for the Brazilian forward, it’s another incident where attention is not on his playing abilities, but the colour of his skin. DM