Rome’s Lazio soccer club was issued a suspended partial stadium ban on Tuesday over antisemitic chants sung by its supporters at a home game last month.
The Serie A soccer league judge ruled that the northern part of Rome’s Olympic Stadium (“Stadio Olimpico”), referred to as the “Curva Nord,” where the team’s hardcore fans sit, would be closed for one game. But he suspended the order in response to Lazio’s lifetime ban of three fans involved in the offensive chants, the Associated Press reported.
The judge gave the team notice that if there are any further cases of fans acting inappropriately, Lazio will have to serve out the one-game suspension and may face additional penalties.
During the city derby between Lazio and Roma in March, a Lazio fan wore a shirt bearing the name “Hitlerson” and the number 88 – a neo-Nazi symbol for “Heil Hitler,” the Daily Mail reported.
The fan was charged under the 1993 Mancino law that bans gestures, actions and slogans promoting fascism or Nazism. An investigation was opened by police after the game using video footage to identify the man, who is a German national, Italian news site ANSA reported.
During the match, a number of Lazio fans also began singing antisemitic chants at Roma supporters, including insulting them for “praying in the synagogue.” The incident was investigated by Roman authorities.
Lazio’s hardcore fans have frequently engaged in behavior deemed offensive in the past during Serie A and European matches.
In October 2021, a video taken at Olympic Stadium showed fans making fascist salutes. It was condemned by a leading Italian Jewish group that called on the club to take action.
The video showed a bird handler, dressed in the team colors of blue and white, who is carrying an eagle – the team’s mascot – standing in front of Lazio fans in the stadium raising his arm in a fascist salute. It was filmed after Lazio’s 3-1 win against Inter-Milan, Italian sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport reported.
The fans responded with fascist salutes in return and a chant of “Duce, Duce, Duce,” referring to Italy’s wartime fascist dictator Benito Mussolini’s nickname.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Passover in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)