Great-grandson of fascist dictator Mussolini joins Lazio's under-19 team
The great-grandson of Italy’s fascist dictator Benito Mussolini has officially joined Lazio’s under-19 team.
Romano Floriani Mussolini, son of the former European parliamentarian Alessandra Mussolini, plays as a right full-back and has already been called up twice in Lazio’s youth team.
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The news, reported by Italian media, is destined to cause controversy even if Mussolini, whose second name is Benito, has said that he is not interested in politics. “I have nothing to comment on”, his mother told the Adnkronos press agency. “It’s something I prefer to stay out of. My son wants no sort of meddling in his private life or choices.”
What is likely to be contentious is that the 18-year-old, who is completing his last year at the St George British School in Rome, has been drafted precisely by Lazio, which continues to be stereotyped as a club with links to the far right, given that many of its most extreme fans, known as “ultràs”, are militants.
“For S.S. Lazio, the name Mussolini is a heavy burden to bear”, writes the national daily Il Fatto Quotidiano. “The northern section of Rome’s Olympic Stadium (known as the curva nord, the area traditionally occupied by S.S. Lazio fans), with its fascist salutes and racist chants, is wasting no time to assert its fascist character. It’s just a matter of time before someone starts exalting the Duce.”
Before the group disbanded early last year, Irriducibili (Indomitables) was the most influential ultràs fan group of Lazio, who during matches would roll out racist banners, swastikas and fascist memorabilia.
In 2017, Lazio fans peppered the city with stickers of Anne Frank dressed in an AS Roma jersey and chanted “all sorts of” anti-semitic slogans to invoke death upon their rivals.
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In a derby match between the two teams in 2005, Paolo Di Canio, a former Irriducibili ultrà and team member of Lazio, addressed his faithful in the curva nord with a fascist salute.
What will happen now that an heir of the Duce will wear the “biancocelesti” shirt?
“He’s a humble boy who’s never complained, not even when he didn’t play for two years,” Mauro Bianchessi, manager of S.S. Lazio’s youth team, told Repubblica. “I like him. He’s not a seasoned player yet, but he looks promising. The burdensome surname? I’ve never spoken to his parents, and the only thing that matters is whether a player deserves to play. Nothing else.”
