Chelsea boss Liam Rosenior calls for lifetime bans for racism, as investigation into Vinicius Junior allegation continues - 'Shouldn't be in the game'

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The incident involving Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior and Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday continues to be investigated, and Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has given strong views on the scourge of racism in football. He called for lifetime bans for those found guilty, and highlighted the need for societal change.

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Chelsea head coach Liam Rosenior has made clear his belief that those found guilty of racism in football "shouldn't be in the game".

Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior left the pitch during Tuesday night's UEFA Champions League play-off against Benfica after alleging that he had been racially abused by winger Gianluca Prestianni.

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho defended the player and the club, but an investigation into the incident is ongoing.

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"Any form of racism in society, let alone football, is unacceptable," Rosenior said. "What I would say is when you see a player upset, how Vinicius Junior was upset, normally they’re upset for a reason.

"I cannot speak about an incident where an investigation is ongoing. I won’t speak about that incident.

"I’ve been racially abused myself. I know people who have been racially abused. What people have to understand is when you are judged for something that you should be proud of, it is the worst feeling you can ever possibly imagine.

"There are historical things to racism. I need to, as manager of this unbelievable football club, make my statement on it.

'I try to be balanced' - Mourinho on Vinicius racism row

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"If any player or any coach or any manager is ever found guilty of racism, they shouldn’t be in the game. It’s as simple as that for me."

Mourinho implied Vinicius had celebrated provocatively in front of the Benfica fans after scoring the game's only goal in Lisbon.

Asked about the ex-Chelsea manager's comments, Rosenior said: "Again, it’s context. What I would say is, regardless how a player celebrates, race should never come into it.

"That is an ongoing investigation. I don’t know the context of the situation. I don’t know the context in which Jose said what he said, and I won’t make a judgement on it. It’s the same thing. I won’t make a judgement until you get the facts."

Turning his attention to wider societal issues, Rosenior added: "There are a lot of things that need to change in our society. I’m not talking about football. There’s a lot of division.

"There’s a lot of people in the media who make prejudgements on people, or how they behave, or who they are based on sexual orientation, what country they come from, what religion they are, what colour of skin they have.

"It sickens me, to be honest. I think it’s a wider debate than just football.

"I think people need to be held a lot more accountable than they are at the moment in terms of social media, in terms of the press, to make sure that these things are stamped out, because everybody should be judged equally based on the content of the character."

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