Kompany: Mourinho made huge mistake with Vini Jr. comments

Bayern Munich coach Vincent Kompany said Benfica boss José Mourinho made a “huge mistake” in attacking the character of Vinícius Júnior after the Real Madrid star accused an opponent of racially insulting him during a Champions League match.

Mourinho suggested that Vinícius had incited Benfica’s players with his celebrations after scoring the only goal in Tuesday’s playoff match.

Vinícius accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of calling him a racial slur during a confrontation after his goal. Prestianni denied making racist comments in a post on Instagram, while his club spoke of a “defamation campaign” against him.

Letexier activated anti-racism protocols, suspending play for 10 minutes, with UEFA initiating an investigation into the incident.

Mourinho also questioned why Vinícius, who is Black and has been subjected to repeated racist insults in Spain, was so frequently targeted.

“There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium,” Mourinho said. “The stadium where Vinícius played something happened. Always.”

Speaking on Friday, Kompany condemned Mourinho’s comments.

“For me, even worse, is what happens after the game,” said Kompany, who recalled his own experiences of racism as a young player, which included Real Betis fans “doing monkey chants” at him and former Anderlecht teammate Cheick Tiote.

“After the game, you have the leader of an organization, José Mourinho, who basically attacks the character of Vinícius Jr., by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinicius is doing in this moment.

“For me, in terms of leadership, it is a huge mistake,” Kompany said. “It is something we should not accept. I am very clear on that.

“The one thing you can’t do is dismiss a person and attack the character of a person who’s complaining about something he experienced and something that must be very painful to that person. There is something that needs to happen.”

Kompany added: “I know 100 people who have worked with José Mourinho. I have never heard a person say anything bad about Jose.

“I understand he is fighting for his team and his club. You cannot be a bad person and have all the ex-players you have had talk so positively about you.

“I don’t need to judge him as a person,” he said, “but I know what I have heard, and I understand maybe what he has done, but he has made a mistake.”

The Brazilian Football Confederation has, meanwhile, written to UEFA and FIFA stressing the need to “identify and punish” anyone guilty of racially abusing Vinicius.

– Seedorf on Mourinho’s Vinícius reaction: Mistake to justify racial abuse
– Real Madrid give UEFA ‘all available evidence’ for Vinícius Jr. probe
– Brazil calls for punishments in Vinícius Júnior racism investigation

Real Madrid boss Alvaro Arbeloa told a news conference Friday that Vinícius remains “outraged” by the incident.

“Vini Jr. has been upset, as have we all. Above all, he has been very outraged by what happened. It’s a racist act that has no place in sports or our society,” he said.

“We have a tremendous opportunity not to let it pass and to continue fighting against this scourge that is racism. What’s really important is to combat acts like the one we witnessed the other day.

“It’s an intolerable situation that we don’t want to see happen again. We will stand against it, especially when it involves a fellow professional. It’s an act that must not and should not happen. Nothing, absolutely nothing, justifies a racist act.”

The Brazilian Football Confederation has, meanwhile, written to UEFA and FIFA stressing the need to “identify and punish” anyone guilty of racially abusing Vinicius.

It has been reported that the UEFA probe, headed up by an ethics and disciplinary investigator, could take up to three weeks to conclude.

That means Vinícius and Prestianni could come face to face again in the second leg of the play-off at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, with the case still unresolved.

Benfica are back in domestic action against Primeira Liga bottom side AVS on Saturday, which Mourinho says is where his focus must be, while acknowledging in an interview with Benfica’s in-house BTV channel that the conversations over the fall-out from the incident “won’t end” there.

He added: “It hasn’t been easy to manage emotionally, everything that has happened and continues to happen.”

PA and The Associated Press contributed to this report.