Jose Mourinho will not speak to the media before Benfica’s return leg against Real Madrid in the Champions League, after the Portuguese manager’s comments on the alleged racist abuse suffered by Vinicius Jr drew criticism from across football.
Mourinho was sent off for two yellow cards when Benfica lost 1-0 to Real Madrid in their Champions League play-off first leg in Lisbon last week, and will be banned from the touchline as his side travel to the Bernabeu and he faces his former team.
As he is suspended, Mourinho can also exercise his right to skip his pre-match and post-match press conference, which is in line with Uefa’s rules. As a result, Mourinho’s assistant, Joao Tralhao, will hold the press conferences instead.
Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni has been suspended for the match while Uefa investigates allegations that the 20-year-old racially abused Vinicius during last week’s match. Prestianni was seen holding his shirt over his mouth during a heated exchange with Madrid players following Vinicius’s second-half goal. The Brazilian winger rushed to the referee to report what he claimed was racist abuse.
Mourinho was sent off for protesting to the fourth official for Vinicius to be shown a red card. Vinicius, who was booked for celebrating his goal towards the Benfica supporters, escaped further punishment after committing a foul later in the game.
In his post-match comments, Mourinho said “something happens, always” in matches where Vinicius plays and criticised the nature of his celebration before the alleged racist abuse took place.
The former Chelsea, Inter, Real Madrid and Manchester United manager was heavily criticised by Vincent Kompany, the former Manchester City defender and current Bayern Munich head coach, while Mourinho was accused of “gaslighting” by anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out.
As he is suspended from the play-off second leg, Mourinho is allowed to skip his pre-match press conference.
Uefa’s guidelines state: "Each club must hold a pre-match press conference the day before the match. Each press conference must be attended by the head coach of the team and at least one player. If the head coach is suspended for the match, clubs have the option of making the assistant coach available for the pre-match press conference instead.”