sports
February 18, 2026
Mourinho accused of gaslighting for response to Vinícius’ allegation of racism
José Mourinho has been accused of gaslighting for his response to Vinícius Júnior’s allegations of racist abuse. The Benfica manager was criticised strongly by the anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out for referencing the Real Madrid forward’s goal celebration when talking about the incident.
TL;DR
- José Mourinho accused of gaslighting for his response to Vinícius Júnior's racist abuse allegations.
- Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out criticized Mourinho for referencing Vinícius's goal celebration.
- Uefa is investigating allegations of racist abuse by Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni against Vinícius Júnior.
- Prestianni denies racist abuse, while Kylian Mbappé has publicly accused him of calling Vinícius a monkey multiple times.
- Benfica supports Prestianni, calling him a 'victim' of a 'smear campaign' and questioning the Real Madrid players' ability to hear the alleged comments.
- Vinícius Júnior posted a message on Instagram stating that 'racists are above all cowards'.
- Footage showed at least one Benfica fan performing a monkey gesture, and bottles were thrown at Vinícius.
- The Portuguese authority APCVD is also investigating racist gestures and noises from Benfica fans.
Continue reading the original article