Serie A club Lazio insist they are not a racist club after some of their fans were once again involved in deplorable scenes on Wednesday evening.
A group of Lazio followers unveiled a banner saying “honour to [Benito] Mussolini” and performed a fascist salute in the centre of Milan, before racist chants and monkey noises were heard before and during their 1-0 win over AC Milan in the Coppa Italia semifinal.
Milan midfielder Tiemoue Bakayoko, who is on loan at the Rossoneri from Chelsea, was the focus of Lazio fans’ chants. He had been singled out for abuse by a group of Lazio followers after he and Franck Kessie held up the shirt of Lazio defender Francesco Acerbi at the end of a recent league fixture between the two clubs, drawing racist chants from the Curva Nord of the Stadio Olimpico during Lazio’s recent Serie A game against Udinese.
Lazio escaped punishment from Serie A for those chants since stadium inspectors did not hear them, but they can expect sanctions for the behaviour of some of their fans on Wednesday night, after the stadium announcer at San Siro was forced to issue a warning that the game could be abandoned if the racist chants persisted.
On Wednesday night, Lazio published a statement on their website insisting the individuals making the racist chants do not represent them.
“Lazio is distancing itself clearly from the behaviour and protests which do not in any way respect the values of sport supported and promoted by this club for 119 years,” read the statement. “And [the club] rejects and contests the simplistic tendencies of certain media who consider the entire Lazio fan base as co-responsible for the acts of just a few, isolated elements, which are motivated by anything but a sporting passion. The club have always fought for respect of the legality and correctness of [its fans’] behaviour.”
Lazio have had a long history of attracting fans with fascist inclinations, with several of their fan groups openly declaring themselves fascist.
The club have attempted to distance themselves from fascism in the past, announcing in October 2017 that they would send 200 kids to Auschwitz each year to educate them.
That came in response to the actions of some Lazio fans, who had stuck pictures of Anne Frank across the Curva Sud when they moved into the area of the stadium usually reserved to Roma fans for a fixture with Cagliari, since the Curva Nord had been closed due to racist chants in a previous fixture with Sassuolo.
Lazio were also ordered by UEFA to play two Europa League fixtures behind closed doors in 2013 due to racist chanting in several Europa League games, including one against Tottenham Hotspur.
The Italian FA is expected to announce what action it will take following the conclusion of the semifinals of the Coppa Italia on Thursday night.
Serie A told ESPN last week that they “will do everything in our power to supervise and prevent any similar incidents.”