Serie A: Outrage after anti-Semitic incidents at Roman Derby

Status: 03/21/2023 1:13 p.m

After the Roman city derby, there was outrage in Italy about the behavior and demeanor of the fans of Lazio Rome, who attracted negative attention with racist and anti-Semitic comments.

Some football supporters of Serie A, who were second in the table, had sung slanderous and sometimes anti-Jewish chants in the stands during the 1-0 win against AS Roma, as various media reported.

Ruth Dureghello, leader of Rome’s Jewish community, condemned this on Twitter. She published a photo of a fan from the stadium, whose jersey was named “Hitlerson” and the number 88 was flocked. The 88 is a cipher in neo-Nazi circles and symbolizes the letters HH. “Is it possible for everyone to pretend nothing happened?”asked Dureghello.

Two days after the game, Lazio announced that the club “any discriminatory, racist or anti-Semitic demonstrations or actions” judge and distance yourself. Only a small proportion of fans are affected. As the association wrote, a few spread “a dangerous germ” in the stadium and others repeated their behavior without understanding the meaning and scope. Lazio have already taken steps to identify those responsible, ban them from entering the stadium in the future and take legal action.

Sports Minister Andrea Abodi named the incidents “unacceptable”. He hopes to find the perpetrators using surveillance cameras and called for better technology in the stadiums to track the perpetrators. Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi invited his colleague Abodi, top football officials and representatives of Jewish communities to speak on the issue of racism and anti-Semitism on March 30.

In Italy, football supporters often cause racist scandals. Defamation and racist abuse are common in the stadiums, mostly against black players. Lazio fans in particular are often involved in such incidents.

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