Football
We do not tolerate fascist salutes! See what Lazio suspended their Eagles trainer for
It is very well known that Lazio Rome fans espouse extreme political trends, resort to racism and various forms of discrimination. However, the club itself finds this behaviour unacceptable, even in the case of its Eagles trainer. What has he actually done?
It is very well known that Lazio Rome fans espouse extreme political trends, resort to racism and various forms of discrimination. However, the club itself finds this behaviour unacceptable, even in the case of its Eagles trainer. What has he actually done?
Anything connected with fascism is, in short, firmly rejected and not accepted by the club.
Juan Bernabe worked for Lazio Rome as an Eagles trainer, but he was not directly employed by the club but by an external agency. Now, however, he has become known around the world for another thing.
In the video below, you can see for yourself what Bernabe was actually suspended for. Not only did he replicate a fascist salute like this after a game against Inter Milan, he also chanted the chant “Duce, Duce”, which was the nickname of former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
“After we became aware of the existence of a video showing Juan Bernabe behaving in a way that insults the club, the fans and the values that our community strives for, action was taken to immediately expel the person in question from the club,” reads an official statement from the club itself.
The Ultras of Lazio Rome have also earned various punishments and sanctions in the past, not only for their extreme affection for fascism, but also for frequent racist abuse. Political extremism in particular is still quite a widespread problem in Serie A.
After several racist incidents at the beginning of this season, the president of the Italian Football Federation (Gabriele Gravina – ed.) declared that racist fans must be identified and banned from stadiums for life.
However, the Bernabéu incident has also sparked outrage among Italy’s Jewish communities.
Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, even called on the club and the Italian Football Federation to intervene.
A memorable incident also occurred in 2019. Lazio was then facing a Europa League match at Celtic Glasgow. At the time, the Irriducibili fan group was filmed singing the song ‘Avanti Ragazzi di Buda’, which has links to the neo-fascist movement in Italy, as its members marched through the city.
We can therefore expect the next few days to be very busy again, particularly in the Italian Football Association.
Sources: The Sun, Daily Record