As he guided Lazio to a conclusive victory over hated Roman rivals Roma, Paolo di Canio couldn’t resist celebrating by racing over to the Lazio Ultras and saluting them, with his right arm stretched at an angle, with palm flattened.
The debate of the week then has been as to what the gesture meant, was it deliberate, and should it be allowed. It seems slightly disengenuous of Di Canio’s agent, Matteo Roggi to suggest as he has that the photos of Di Canio are unrepresentative of his gesture, a trick of the camera as it were. In reality few people, including Di Canio, are uncertain of what the gesture was. It was the famous Roman salute. The question though is what was intended by it.
Speaking to his team mate Ousmane Dabo, who is as the papers put it “a Frenchman of colour”, Di Canio explained that he had given a salute typical in ancient Rome to honour the emporors – and that it certainly wasn’t an extremist gesture. Quicker than you could say ‘hmm, he would say that though, wouldn’t he’, Alessandra Mussolini, a member of parliament, is promising to send him a thank you card for the beautiful gesture, which is as much associated with her Grandfather Benito Mussolini and Fascism as it’s ever been with Julius Caesar. Di Canio has denied that it was a political gesture, pointedly responding to La Mussolini by her married name of Mrs. Floriani.
That’s not to suggest that Di Canio, or indeed Lazio‘s fans, don’t have a sentimental attachment to il Duce -Di Canio has DUX tattooed on his arm, and has stated clearly his fascination for the Italian Fascist leader. He belongs to the school of thought that suggests Mussolini was “basically a very principled, ethical individual” and “deeply misunderstood”[1].
So, why the reticence to admit the fascist salute on Di Canio’s part? Well, to put it simply it becomes an illegal act if associated with Fascism, which is constitutionally forbidden. The police are investigating tapes of the match, and there is an investigation underway by the Football Federation. Lazio fans, the irriducibili are incensed, citing the gestures of players on the left wing (politically rather than technically) such as Cristiano Lucarelli of Livorno, who has been known to make the clenched fist gesture associated with the Partisan movement. It seems, as with loyalist marches in Ulster, there needs to be a parity of esteem between the two predominant traditions in Italy. The fans are threatening to take to the streets in protest if there is any disciplinary action – no idle threat with a support base of about 30,000.
This Monkey doesn’t like Di Canio, or Lazio – partly out of bitterness because they beat Bologna 2-1, but also because the club’s fans have consistently displayed ugly, fascist and racist(is there a difference?) attitudes[1]. The reality though is that it would be unfair to discipline Di Canio for the gesture. Unfair because there are plenty of more overt displays of fascism to deal with first.
Mussolini’s tomb, in the foothills of Forli, is an open pilgrimage site for neo-nazis from all over Italy and Europe. There is a paramilitary guard and the display of fascist paraphenalia everywhere. Every year in April, on the anniversary of his death, coachloads of uniformed fascists arrvie to pay homage. In the town, and in tourists sites all around Italy you can buy fascist trinkets ranging from a Mussolini bust through to an Adolf Hitler bottle of vino.
If people are really serious about preventing open displays of fascism, that’s the place to start.
[1]From Di Canio’s Autobiography, as quoted by the Guardian
[2]UEFA last December censured Lazio for the racism of its fans. In a report by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia on Racism, Football and the Internet, Lazio’s fan site gained specific mention for its racist content.