Milan (AFP)
Albanian Elseid Hysaj, a new Lazio player insulted by the far-right fringe of Roman club supporters for singing "Bella Ciao", an anti-fascist song, received support from his leaders on Tuesday.
"We support our athletes and all the players. We will never be on the side of those who deny the values of sport," Lazio said in a statement.
"We are clearly distancing ourselves from those who want to exploit this event for political reasons, to harm the team, all Lazio fans, and the club," the text continued.
The song of the Albanian international, standing on a chair in front of his new teammates who accompanied him, laughing and clapping their hands, provoked the ire of ultra marked on the far-right who had to. first taken to task on social networks.
A banner "Hysaj parasite, Lazio is fascist" was then deployed on a bridge in Rome, banner qualified as "shameful" by the Roman club, which condemned it in its press release.
Celtic crosses, monkey cries, fascist greetings or even hijacked photos of Anne Frank ... The "Ultras" of Lazio Rome are regularly singled out for racist or anti-Semitic acts.
Often caricatured as a "fascist club", Lazio is nevertheless the club that said no to Mussolini.
Founded in 1900, long before the creation of the fascist movement, Lazio refused to participate in the merger of several clubs in the Italian capital, wanted by Mussolini and which resulted in the birth of AS Rome in 1927.
Many club supporters have supported Hysaj - just arrived at Lazio when he was at the end of his contract with Napoli - on social networks via a hashtag #IostoconHysaj (#JeSuisAvecHysaj).
In addition to the far-right coloring of the Curva Nord ultras (the North Turn), Lazio's reputation has also suffered from the presence in its ranks of players who did not hide their fascist sympathies, including members of the Italian champion team in 1974, or as Paolo Di Canio, author of a Roman salute in front of his supporters in 2005.
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