Lazio has announced that some of its fans who put fascist salutes during Sunday’s derby match against AS Roma have been banned for life.
During the match which Lazio won, thanks to a solitary Mattia Zaccagni strike, some fans were seen making fascist salutes and singing anti-semitic chants.
A fan was also spotted in viral footage, wearing a Lazio shirt with ‘Hitlerson’ written alongside the number 88 at the back.
In a statement released on Wednesday, March 22, Lazio said they’ve been collaborating with authorities and were able to identify the individuals involved. As a result, three supporters were issued a lifetime ban.
The statement read;
“In the course of Sunday’s match, Lazio v Roma, and in the days immediately following, three people were identified who were the protagonists of behaviour that had nothing to do with supporting and which manifested forms of discrimination and anti-Semitism.
“Thanks to the collaboration between Società Sportiva Lazio, its own security service, stewards and the police, also through the use of the surveillance cameras at the Stadio Olimpico, it was possible to quickly identify a person wearing the shirt with the number 88 bearing the inscription “Hitlerson” and two others who ostentatiously made the gesture of the Roman salute”.
It is not the first time anti-semitism has dominated the Rome derby, with references to Jewish prisoner of war Anne Frank often abhorrently referenced by Lazio supporters to their Roma neighbours.
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