LAZIO fans plunged their club into even further shame with fascist chanting and alleged Nazi salutes — only moments after their players had shown solidarity in the face of recent antisemitic acts.
The Biancocelesti were in action against Bologna in their first outing since a section of the club’s fans stoked national outrage by leaving images of Anne Frank in a Roma shirt their rivals’ part of the shared Olympic Stadium when their end was temporarily shut.
The incident prompted a swift reaction, with Lazio‘s president Claudio Lotito pledging to send 200 fans to visit Auschwitz every year.
All clubs’ players wore t shirts bearing Anne Frank’s face and the phrase “Not to antisemitism” during the warm-up, while her diary was handed out to mascots before kick-off.
And a minute’s reflection was held at all grounds during the midweek Serie A fixtures.
However, several Lazio ultras boycotted the start of the match when players wore the t shirts, and Gazzetta della Sport claim several made Nazi salutes when they finally did arrive.
While they also chanted “Me ne frego” [I don’t care], which is a known fascist song.
To add insult to serious injury, they were seated in a part of the ground named after former Inter Milan and Bologna coach Arpad Weisz, who died in Auschwitz in 1944.
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Before the match, Lotito had laid a wreath outside a synagogue in Rome, but it was mysteriously later found in the river Tiber.
The scandal shows no sign of subsiding with several groups of Lazio supporters reportedly refusing to apologise for the act and describing it as “banter”.
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Meanwhile, Lotito has not helped himself by repeatedly dropping clangers in his attempts to rectify the situation.
He was caught on tape calling an organised visit to a synagogue a “charade” and in a later TV interview, he told reporters he had visited a mosque — confusing a Muslim place of worship with a Jewish one.
But it isn’t just Lazio fans who are engulfed in the antisemitism row, with a Juventus supporters group also defending the act.
A statement from Juve group Viking read: “We want to point out the different consideration given by the mass media to the ultras, above all our way of supporting and engaging in banter, which at times might exceed into dark humour.
“But should be read in context of simple football rivalry! Nothing more!
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