August 22 – The Italian football federation says Lazio will be punished for a hardcore group of its fans trying to ban women from a section of the Stadio Olimpico.
Lazio’s ultras caused a public outcry by circulating a flier saying women should be excluded from part of the Curva Nord of the stadium described by supporters as their “sacred space”.
Italian FA general secretary Michele Uva, who is also a UEFA vice-president, says there will “certainly be disciplinary consequences” for the incident which occurred ahead of Lazio’s opening Serie A game last weekend when female fans were invited to “position themselves from the 10th row back.”
Lazio distanced themselves from the latest incident of discrimination but the club’s women’s national team striker Carolina Morace said the initiative was “unjustifiable”.
“We are [back] to the middle ages,” she told news agency Ansa. “I hope these people will be banned from the stadium.”
A Rome police spokeswoman told Reuters that detectives had identified two suspects and referred the case to prosecutors for possible breaches of the country’s anti-discrimination laws.
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