Benfica claim there is a “defamation campaign” against Gianluca Prestianni after Uefa launched an investigation into claims he racially abused Real Madrid winger Vinicius Jr.

Tuesday’s Champions League tie at Benfica was halted for 10 minutes after Vinicius reported alleged racist abuse to referee Francois Letexier and he and his team-mates left the field.

Brazil international Vinicius, who has been a victim of numerous incidents of racist abuse during his playing career, later said in a post on Instagram: “Racists are, above all, cowards.”

Prestianni, who could face a minimum 10-match ban from European competition if found guilty, denied directing racial abuse at Vinicius.

On Wednesday, Benfica defended Prestianni via a post on their official X account, alongside a video of the alleged incident, saying: “Given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard.”

The club added they “fully support” and believe the version of events presented by Prestianni.

“[Prestianni’s] conduct in the service of the club has always been guided by respect for opponents, institutions and the principles that define Benfica’s identity,” Benfica added.

“The club regrets the defamation campaign of which the player has been a victim.”

By Anthony Solly

Carlos Alcaraz says he was glad to get through some “difficult moments” against Arthur Rinderknech as he won his first match since triumphing at last month’s Australian Open.

Top seed Alcaraz had to save two set points in the second set but won 6-4 7-6 (7-5) against the unseeded Frenchman in the first round of the Qatar Open in Doha.

It was seven-time Grand Slam winner Alcaraz’s first match since beating Novak Djokovic in Melbourne to become the youngest male player to achieve the career Grand Slam.

“It was really difficult,” said the Spaniard.

“Arthur is a really dangerous player. Nobody wants to play against him in the first round, I’m happy with the level. I’m happy that I got through difficult moments in the match.”

Alcaraz, 22, started well and broke to go 3-2 up, before comfortably seeing out the rest of the set to take it 6-4 with a deft volley at the net.

World number 30 Rinderknech improved from there, earning two set points at 6-5, but Alcaraz, helped by his 28 winners in the match, saved them before coming out on top in the tie-break.

He sealed victory with a forehand down the line and sets up a second-round tie against France’s Valentin Royer, who beat countryman Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-0 6-3.

Victory was Alcaraz’s 150th at tour level on hard courts and extended his flawless start to the 2026 season to 8-0.

Dubai Championships sees more withdrawals

The second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships was hit by fitness issues again as four players, including fifth seed Mirra Andreeva, advanced because of player withdrawals.

Andreeva went through when opponent Daria Kasatkina pulled out before the tie, while ninth seed Belinda Bencic was also handed a walkover when Sara Bejlek withdrew prior to the match.

Paula Badosa retired after losing the first set 6-4 against sixth seed Elina Svitolina, while Ella Seidel withdrew after dropping the first set 6-0 to Jaqueline Cristian.

The withdrawals follow nine dropouts in the first round, which saw seven lucky losers from qualifying fill the main draw.

Meanwhile, the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) has announced it is launching “the Tour Architecture Council” to oversee improvements to the women’s game.

In a statement, WTA chair Valerie Camillo says the council has been set up because the “current calendar does not feel sustainable for players given the physical, professional and personal pressures of competing at the highest level”.

Chaired by American world number five Jessica Pegula, the council is set to “develop meaningful improvements to the calendar, commitments and other core elements of the Tour framework”.

Potential changes to the Tour “can be implemented as soon as the 2027 season”.

The council is made up of a number of players, including former world number one Victoria Azarenka, as well as tournament directors and WTA Tour chiefs.

“This is a chance to focus on specific parts of the Tour structure and see what can be addressed in the short-term, while continuing the conversation on longer-term improvements in a dedicated, focused way,” said Pegula.

“The WTA has the opportunity and standing to bring a group like this together and I’m grateful they’re using that power to advance real change for 2027.”

Veteran Manny Pacquiao will face former light-welterweight world champion Ruslan Provodnikov in an exhibition on 18 April.

Pacquiao, 47, ended a four-year stint of retirement in July when losing by majority draw against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios.

The eight-weight world champion called for a rematch after that defeat but has since switched his direction of travel and will compete in an exhibition bout.

Pacquiao and Provodnikov, who retired in 2016, will fight in a 10-round exhibition at Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.

“I carry the Philippines with me every time I fight,” Pacquiao said.

“The support from my country and from fans around the world continues to inspire me. I’m coming back to give them a great fight – and I’m ready.”

“Returning to Las Vegas means so much to me.”

Pacquiao has a professional record of 62 wins, eight losses and three draws and is unbeaten across three previous exhibitions – winning two and drawing one.

In July – before facing Barrios after overturning his decision to retire – Pacquiao told BBC Sport that he intended to make an extended return to boxing.

The Filipino was inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in 2025.

Russia’s Provodnikov, 42, competed at light-welterweight and welterweight during his professional career – winning 25 and losing five.

Ukrainian officials will boycott next month’s Winter Paralympics after Russian and Belarusian athletes were invited to compete under their national flags.

On Tuesday, it was announced six Russian and four Belarusian athletes will compete in alpine skiing, cross-country skiing and snowboarding at the Milan-Cortina Games, which start on 6 March.

In September, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) lifted its ban on athletes from the two countries competing at the Games.

However, the IPC does not govern the six sports contested at the Paralympics and despite the individual bodies – including FIS – refusing to lift their own bans, Russia and Belarus won an appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (Cas) against FIS.

As a result, athletes have been able to return to FIS competitions and the 10 athletes have been awarded bipartite commission invitations to compete at the Paralympics.

“Ukrainian public officials will not attend the Paralympic Games,” said the country’s sports minister Matvii Bidnyi.

“We will not be present at the opening ceremony. We will not take part in any other official Paralympic events.

“We thank every official from the free world who will do the same. We will keep fighting!”

Both countries were suspended from Paralympic competition after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, with Belarus a close ally of Russia.

A partial ban – allowing athletes to compete as neutrals – was introduced in 2023.

Earlier on Wednesday, Johan Eliasch, the president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) told BBC Sport the decision to award bipartite places had “not been easy”.

“What we’re dealing with here is an issue that is divisive, where people have different feelings depending on where they come from. It’s something that we have to respect,” he said.

“Athletes can’t choose where they were born. On the other hand, they can’t be used for PR purposes in their home countries to promote the war.

“It’s our duty to make sure that athletes are not weaponised for political purposes.”

Bipartite commission invites are granted to individual athletes, rather than their international federation, and allow the participation of top athletes “who may not have had the opportunity to qualify through other methods due to extraordinary circumstances”, among other factors.

The IPC, with the support of international federations – in this case FIS – decides who receives the bipartite slots after receiving recommendations from the federation.

Ukraine has also been awarded bipartite slots in three sports.

In an earlier statement, Bidnyi said the decision to award slots to Russia and Belarus was “both disappointing and outrageous”, adding their flags “have no place at international sporting events that stand for fairness, integrity and respect.”

Eliasch added: “It is difficult, and in our case in the end, the courts decided the outcome.

“Everything has been done by the book. We’ve had strict vetting schemes of the people who do participate to make sure they don’t have any affiliation with the military, and it’s important that we keep that up.”

UK culture secretary Lisa Nandy said the awarding of bipartite places to Russian and Belarusian athletes was “completely the wrong decision”, while in a statement on Wednesday, the British Paralympic Association said it was the “wrong approach”.

“ParalympicsGB has consistently supported the decision to suspend NPC Russia and NPC Belarus, however the IPC membership recently made the decision to reinstate them and we have to recognise that decision,” it said.

“We have been clear throughout that we believe this is the wrong approach and the ban should have remained in place given the ongoing war in Ukraine. We continue to express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine and our friends at NPC Ukraine.”

Responding to Nandy, the IPC said: “The International Paralympic Committee is a democratic organisation and the decision to lift the partial suspension of NPCs Belarus and Russia was taken by IPC member organisations at the 2025 General Assembly.

“At this meeting nearly 180 of the IPC’s 211 members were in attendance and voted on this matter. We have to respect the decision of our members who come from all over the world.”

Russian news agency TASS reports that among the athletes set to compete are Aleksey Bugaev, a three-time Paralympic champion in alpine skiing, and cross-country skiers Ivan Golubkov and Anastasiia Bagiian – both are World Championship medallists.

All three returned to competition in January, and both Bugaev and Bagiian have since won World Cup titles.

Lewis Hamilton says he finds this year’s Formula 1 cars “more fun” to drive – in contrast to Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso’s assessment of the impact of the new rules.

F1 has made the biggest rule change in its history and introduced new regulations for chassis, engines, tyres and fuel.

Verstappen has criticised the amount of energy management required from the new hybrid engines, but Hamilton said he was enjoying the reduced grip of the cars and different aerodynamic philosophy.

“We just have a less downforce,” the Ferrari driver said. “But you still have to discover the grip. There’s still so many elements completely under our control.

“So, it’s just different, and new, and I still find it quite fun.

“The cars are more fun to drive. They’re easier to correct. So you have snaps and keep them on track. The previous year’s cars were a bit too on edge.”

But Alonso said that a driver’s skill was not as important as before, because optimum energy management meant some corners were taken slower than they could be because doing so gained more lap time from having extra energy to deploy on straights than was lost through the bends.

Alonso said: “You’re always on the limit on the grip. It depends on the corners. You’re always on the limit on the grip in a rental car if you push to the limit.

“But the high-speed corners, especially, I think it’s less challenging. You have to say that. There’s nothing wrong to say [that].

“In Turn 12 in Bahrain, and some of the corners maybe in Barcelona, you decide to save energy and go through the corner at a slower speed so you have more energy for the straight.

“From a driver’s point of view the skills matter less because you can go as fast as the energy choice you make before that corner, so it’s a different Formula 1.”

Following Verstappen’s criticism of the new engines last week, in which he said the new cars were like “Formula E on steroids” and “just not Formula 1”, he said: “You’re fighting the grip. You’re on the limit of what you have, for sure. It’s just not as much now.

“Of course, I also know that this probably is one of the worst [circuits], in terms of the grip feeling that you get from a car, because of the tarmac being so aggressive.

“A lot less downforce but at the same time, you also don’t get a lot of combined grip [in the braking and turning phase] at the moment. It’s a bit hard to manage.”

Hamilton said he did not yet have a clear picture on how the new rules would affect racing, and said: “I don’t know if it’s going to be better.”

American star Mikaela Shiffrin cemented her place among the greats of alpine skiing as she won Olympic slalom gold in emphatic fashion.

Twelve years on from winning the title in Sochi aged 18, Shiffrin stormed to victory with an overall time of 1:39:10, an extraordinary 1.50 seconds ahead of second place to become a three-time Olympic champion.

The 30-year-old put herself in pole position with a time of 47.13secs in the first run at Olimpia delle Tofane, a gap of 0.82secs to second-place Lena Duerr.

The German was the only skier to finish within one second of Shiffrin but she straddled the first gate on her second run to put herself out of medal contention.

That left Shiffrin with what was ultimately an exhibition run to take gold and she completed the run in 51.97secs.

“Today I showed up for the skiing. I wanted to have two runs with really strong slalom skiing. Now to be through that is a little bit challenging to process,” she said.

“In the end, today, showing up – that was the thing I wanted most. More than the medal. Now, to also get to have a medal is unbelievable.”

Switzerland’s Camille Rast claimed silver while Sweden’s Anna Swenn Larsson took bronze.

Seven-time world champion Shiffrin appeared to be in disbelief as she initially crossed the line but eventually crouched on her skis with her head in her hands before fist pumping towards the crowd.

Although the margin of victory this time was significant, things had not gone to plan for her until now in Cortina.

She finished 11th in the giant slalom and an agonising fourth in the team event alongside Olympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson.

In fact, since her giant slalom gold in Pyeongchang 2018, which followed slalom gold in Sochi 2014, the Olympics have simply not been a happy hunting ground for Shiffrin.

Four years ago in Beijing she crashed out of both the giant slalom and slalom events just seconds into her run, completing six races but returning home without a medal.

But the most decorated alpine skier of all time cruised to victory this time and put years of Olympic anguish behind her to deliver on the big stage.

‘Redemption’ for Shiffrin

Shiffrin arrived in Cortina with significant pressure on her shoulders as the heavy favourite.

This season she has won seven of eight slalom World Cup races and finished second in the other to seal the overall title with races to spare.

Her 108 World Cup race wins make her the world’s most successful alpine skier while she has featured on the podium a further 58 times and won the overall title five times.

Pressure has only intensified after she missed medal chances in the team and giant slalom events, heaping expectation on Wednesday’s slalom as her last opportunity to reach the podium at this Games.

But in her favoured event, where she has 71 World Cup race wins, the most by any alpine skier in any discipline, she not only delivered but wiped out the competition.

“I wanted to be free, I wanted to unleash. It’s not easy to do that, but I’ve been so focused every single day,” she said after her win.

“Through a lot of discussions with my psychologist and my mom and my team, everything we said was that, despite pressure or nerves, I want to feel this skiing.”

Four years ago things were different and Shiffrin has spoken openly about her mental health since she blanked at Beijing 2022.

Following the loss of her father in 2020, she suffered with memory issues, meaning she struggled to remember courses in the build up to the Games.

Then, on the brink of her 100th World Cup win in December 2024 she sustained a puncture wound and muscle damage to her stomach when she crashed out of a race in Killington, somersaulting into the safety nets.

That injury, which she described as “gross and weird”, left her struggling with visions of crashing and a fear of doing it again.

But in Cortina, spectators were treated to a Shiffrin who appears back to her very best.

Former British alpine skier Chemmy Alcott said: “It wasn’t redemption, it was revenge. So many critics say ‘she chokes in the Olympics’ and it is the worst narrative ever. They forget what she went through two years ago.

“She just did her thing. She didn’t have to be special, she just had to be herself.”

UEFA have launched an investigation into alleged racist abuse of Vinicius Jr.

Real Madrid star Vinicius reported alleged racist abuse by Benfica midfielder Gianluca Prestianni to referee Francois Letexier during Tuesday’s Champions League play-off first leg in Lisbon.

Prestianni denies racially abusing Vinicius Jr.

Vinicius had put Real Madrid 1-0 up in the second half at the Estadio da Luz before being booked for an excessive celebration.

Following an interaction with Prestianni, Vinicius ran over to referee Letexier and told him he had been racially abused by the Benfica player.

Vinicius walked off the pitch and was followed by his Real Madrid team-mates. Play restarted 10 minutes later and after the match the Brazilian said “racists are cowards” in a post on Instagram.

UEFA have confirmed an “ethics and disciplinary inspector” has been appointed in an “investigation for potential violation of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations”.

A UEFA statement said: “A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector has been appointed to investigate allegations of discriminatory behaviour during the UEFA Champions League 2025-26 knock-out play-off between Club Benfica and Real Madrid CF on 17 February 2026.”

Vinicius said in a post on social media: “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are.

“But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life.

“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”

Prestianni denied directing racial abuse to Vinicius Jr.

“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults to Vini Jr, who regrettably misunderstood what he thought he heard,” said Prestianni in a post on his social media. “I was never racist with anyone and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players.”

Benfica have issued a statement supporting Prestianni, saying they “fully support and believe in the version presented by the player” and that the club “regrets the defamation campaign of which the player has been a victim”.

In a statement on Wednesday, Benfica said: “Benfica views with a full spirit of collaboration, transparency, openness and a sense of clarity the actions announced today by UEFA, following the alleged case of racism that occurred in the game against Real Madrid.

“The club reaffirms, clearly and unequivocally, its historical and unwavering commitment to defending the values ​​of equality, respect and inclusion, which are in line with the core values ​​of its foundation and which have Eusebio as their greatest symbol.

“Benfica also reiterates that it fully supports and believes in the version presented by the player Gianluca Prestianni, whose conduct in service of the club has always been guided by respect for opponents, institutions and the principles that define Benfica’s identity. The club regrets the defamation campaign of which the player has been a victim.”