April 30 – Lazio have somehow escaped an immediate stadium closure after around 50 supporters displayed a banner honouring Benito Mussolini and performed fascist salutes ahead of last week’s Italian Cup match against AC Milan, followed by instances of disgraceful racist abuse during the game itself.
The Italian league’s disciplinary tribunal said Lazio would have to stage one home game with part of the Olympic Stadium closed to fans if there was a repeat incident within the next year.
The banner was unveiled near Piazzale Loreto, the Milan square where the fascist dictator was executed in 1945. The episode took place one day ahead of Liberation day, a public holiday in which Italians celebrate the end of Nazi-fascism.
The tribunal confirmed that Milan’s Tiemoue Bakayoko and Franck Kessie were both subjected to racially insulting chants before and during the game at San Siro from ‘almost all’ of the 4,000 Lazio fans in the away end.
It said that the chanting could be heard “by everyone” in the stadium.
Lazio, who won 1-0 to qualify for the final against Atalanta, blamed “isolated elements” for the incidents. But Milan’s sporting director Leonardo Araujo said there were “one thousand reasons to stop the game.”
The suspended sentence represents a total farce in efforts to stamp out racist abuse in Italian football. The stadium announcer even twice used the PA system to call for the chants to stop immediately – and was ignored both times.
Contact the writer of this story at andrew.warshaw@insideworldfootball.com