Vincent Kompany: Bayern Munich boss says Jose Mourinho made 'huge mistake' with comments on Vinicius Jr over alleged racism
Bayern Munch boss Vincent Kompany has said Jose Mourinho made a 'huge mistake' with his comments on Vinicius Jr; Vinicius was subject to alleged racial abuse from Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni during their Champions League tie; Mourinho suggested Vinicius incited the incident
Friday 20 February 2026 13:38, UK
Vincent Kompany believes Benfica manager Jose Mourinho made a "huge mistake" with his comments on Vinicius Jr.
On Tuesday, the Real Madrid forward briefly refused to return to the field after suffering alleged racial abuse from Gianluca Prestianni after scoring during a Champions League game in Lisbon.
UEFA has appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate the incident but Sky Sports News has been told the process could take up to three weeks to conclude.
Post-match, Mourinho suggested that it was Vinicius who had instigated the home fans with his celebration following the goal, saying: "When you score a goal like that, you celebrate in a respectful way." He followed that up by adding: "There is something wrong because it happens in every stadium. Every stadium that Vinicius plays [in] something happens. Always."
Mourinho has been widely criticised for his remarks in the aftermath, and on Friday, Bayern Munich boss Kompany slammed the Portuguese's comments.
"It's a difficult topic. I saw it happen live and there are a couple of different components to the story. First, there is what happens on the pitch. Second is what’s happening with the fans as well. Third, there is what happens after the game. Those three things, there are some clear separations we need to make.
"So what happens on the pitch, you have Vini Jr, who when you watch the action itself, his reaction cannot be faked. You can see his reaction is an emotional reaction. I don't see any benefit for him to go to the referee and put all this misery on his shoulders. There is absolutely no reason for Vini Jr to go and do this and he does it, and when he does it, he is doing it because in his mind it is the right thing to do in that moment.
"Next to him you have Kylian Mbappe, who normally always stays quite diplomatic, and Kylian Mbappe is really clear about what he heard and what he saw and is even more clear after the game when he speaks about it.
"So all of this happens. But then of course you have a player who is hiding what he is saying in his shirt and in the end you have a player who is complaining and a player who said he didn’t do it and unless the player himself comes forward it is a difficult case.
"I understand this. But then in the background you see in the stadium there were people doing monkey signs, it's in the video. And for me, even worse, and I’m clear in what I’m saying, is what happens after the game.
"You have the leader of an organisation, Jose Mourinho, who attacks the character of Vinicius Jr by bringing in the type of celebration to discredit what Vinicius is doing in this moment.
“In terms of leadership, it’s a huge mistake and something we should not accept."
In his comments, Mouirnho appeared to cite Eusebio's legendary figure at Benfica as proof that those associated with the club could not be racist, a claim which Komany also responded to.
"On top of it he mentions the name of Eusebio, to say that Benfica cannot be racist because the best player in the history of Benfica is Eusebio.
"Do you know what black players had to go through in the 60s? Was he there to travel with Eusébio every away game and see what he went through, every place in Europe?
"Because my dad is a black person from the 1960s also who made his way, probably at the time the only option they had was to be quiet. To say nothing and to be above it and to be 10 times better to get a little bit of credit and for people to say ‘actually he’s good.’
"That was Eusebio’s life, probably. Today, to use his name to make a point about Vini Jr who’s actually, finally in a situation where he can say something about it … there are a lot of players in different leagues in Europe who don’t have a voice. There are players in Hungary, Bulgaria, Serbia if something happens to them and they are black players they have zero chance to have any kind of support.
"Vini Jr is at least in a situation where a lot of players have made it possible for him to take this moment and to protest in this moment."
Kompany accuses Mourinho of attacking Vinicius' character
Kompany also accused Mourinho of attacking Vinicius' character and cited incidents where Mourinho could've been vulnerable to discrimination.
Kompany referenced the Portuguese's infamous celebration at Old Trafford while in charge of Porto and his clash with referee Anthony Taylor during the 2023 Europa League final where he was charged with using 'insulting/abusive language against a match official' and saw Taylor being escorted on his way home following abuse from fans.
"The one thing you can’t do is dismiss a person and attack the character of a person who is complaining about something he experienced and something that must be very painful to that person.
“When Jose Mourinho is doing the knee slide at Old Trafford, because he attacked the celebration of Vini Jr, when he goes to the fans in a semi-final of Inter Milan vs Barcelona and he goes in front of the Barcelona fans and does his celebration.
"When he plays against Sevilla with AS Roma and is fighting with the referees and they have to leave the country under protection after that game. In that moment if someone was racist to Mourinho, I would have hoped that all of us would have said ‘stop', it doesn’t matter his celebration, let’s listen to what he has to say and let’s defend some simple things, some core things.
"I met 100 people who worked with Jose Mourinho. I've never heard a person say anything bad about Jose. All his players that played with him, they love him. I understand the person he is. I understand he is fighting for his team, for his club and he’s made that decision.
"You cannot be a bad person and have all the ex-players you’ve had talk so positively about you. I know he's a good person. I don't need to judge him as a person but I also know what I've heard and I understand maybe what he's done, but he made a mistake. Hopefully it won't happen again in the future, and we can move forward and grow and look at the things that we can do together rather than things that constantly separate us."
'If guilty, I hope Prestianni still has space to apologise'
When asked what he would like to see happen off the back of the incident, Kompany admitted he would hope that Prestianni would be given a platform to apologise if found guilty, as well as serving any punishment.
"My dream is at the end of the situation, if it is true that the player from Benfica said something as bad as what is said, I would love a situation where there is still room where somebody can apologise and say ‘I am sorry I made a mistake,’ and this has an impact on the sentence as well.
"So, the sentence should be A or B, but if you admit that you have made a mistake there should be an opportunity to say, ‘hey, nobody is perfect.’ This is also a good step. But we are taking away all these options because we are creating left or right, black and white and you have to be one side or the other side."
