FIFA extends Gianluca Prestianni ban globally over Vinicius Junior abuse
FIFA has extended Gianluca Prestianni’s UEFA ban for discriminatory conduct globally, meaning the Argentina winger could miss the start of the World Cup.
The world football governing body approved a request to apply the original suspension across all international and club competitions.
The punishment stems from a Champions League knockout play-off tie in Lisbon on 17 February, where Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior alleged he was subjected to racial abuse.
However, UEFA formally recorded the offence as homophobic abuse when issuing their initial disciplinary statement.
World Cup impact for Argentina
The global extension means the former Vélez Sarsfield prospect will be ineligible for his national team’s opening Group J fixtures against Algeria and Austria, should he be selected.
The 20-year-old currently holds a single senior cap for the reigning world champions but featured in their most recent squad for a March friendly against Zambia.
Domestic club matches in Portugal remain completely unaffected by the international ruling.
Suspended sentence details
While the headline sanction spans six matches, three of those are suspended for a two-year probationary period.
The Benfica attacker has also already served one match as a provisional suspension during the initial investigation.
Consequently, the South American will only be forced to sit out two immediate competitive international or European club fixtures.
If the talented wide player is ultimately omitted from Lionel Scaloni’s tournament squad, the active suspension will simply carry over to UEFA competitions next season.