Ex-Liverpool forward condemns alleged racist incident involving Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior

The Real Madrid star accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of making a racist comment in midweek, with Uefa now investigating the incident. Several prominent figures in the game have spoken out in support of Vinicius

El Hadji Diouf has sent his support to Vinicius Junior

El Hadji Diouf has offered his support to Vinicius Junior following the alleged racist abuse he suffered earlier this week.

The Real Madrid star accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a monkey in Tuesday’s Champions League encounter, with Kylian Mbappe claiming he also heard the remark.

Prestianni denied using racist language and was supported by Benfica and its head coach Jose Mourinho. The latter implied Vinicius had courted controversy by celebrating scoring the only goal of the game in front of the Benfica fans, while adding the club cannot be racist as its greatest-ever player, Eusebio, was Black.

Mourinho has been widely condemned for those comments, and Uefa has opened an investigation into the incident. Vinicius has faced numerous instances of racist abuse in recent years and has been outspoken on the matter.

Posting on social media after the midweek game, the winger said: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to demonstrate how weak they are.

“But they have protection from others who, theoretically, have the obligation to punish. Nothing that happened today is new in my life and my family's.

“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. Still not understanding why. On the other side, just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”

Vinicius has alleged Prestianni used racist language in the midweek Champions League meeting

Ex-Liverpool forward Diouf has praised the Brazilian’s actions and called on the authorities to adopt a firmer stance against racism.

“I like his character. There are a lot of Black players who always go through this always, but they just shrug it off and go away. Vini is not one to do that,” the 45-year-old told Telecom Asia.

“He’s a man who speaks out about things that affect society and society needs more strong men like that, people who don’t care about the headlines but what is the right thing to be done.

Diouf spent two years of his career at Liverpool(Image: Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“I mean everyone knows that Mourinho has helped African players a lot, but his comments afterwards were disappointing. He should know better because of his experience, but it’s now really up to the authorities. If they want to end it they will, but they keep dancing around the issue.

“Go and ask other players and they will tell you, I’m certain it happens more often than it’s reported,” Diouf continued.

“Those campaigns and banners don’t work. They need to make real examples of the people who do it.

“That is the only way, ban them from the game totally and ban the fans from the stadium for life, strong measures that ensure that Black players are protected.”

Diouf played 80 times for Liverpool between 2002 and 2004 and also represented Bolton Wanderers, Sunderland, Blackburn Rovers, Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United during his time in England.