Italy bans No. 88 from football shirts in drive against anti-Semitism
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Lazio's Toma Basic, in a number 88 shirt, celebrates scoring a goal.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MILAN – Footballers in Italy were on Tuesday banned from wearing the No. 88 on their jerseys as part of an anti-Semitism initiative coordinated by Italy’s government and its football federation (FIGC).
The country’s Interior and Sport Ministers, as well as the coordinator in combating anti-Semitism, signed an agreement with FIGC chief Gabriele Gravina to battle the phenomenon in Italian stadiums.
Instances of anti-Semitism and racism are commonplace in these venues, with fans regularly using the word “Jew” as an insult and displaying Nazi or fascist symbols, while also booing or shouting abuse at Black players.
In May, Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo said Italian football will adopt a “zero tolerance” stance towards racist fans, and will leverage technology to identify culprits and enforce stadium bans.
The No. 88 is a reference to the Nazi Germany slogan “Heil Hitler” as the letter “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said during the ceremony in Rome that the initiative represents a “great contribution” to football and was “an adequate and efficient response to intolerable prejudice that too often arises in our stadiums”.
He added. “Anti-Semitism must be strongly fought, together with everything that excludes, despises and discriminates against every human being, every social group, every minority.
“This is only the first step of a broader strategy that will result in a new document on preventing and combating all forms of racism and discrimination in sport.”
The agreement will also mandate fans to use non-discriminatory language at all public events, with guidelines on how to suspend matches in cases of discrimination.
One Lazio fan was pictured wearing a replica top with the name “Hitlerson” and the No. 88 on the back during the team’s local derby with Roma in March.
He was a German supporter and one of three people banned for life from attending matches by Lazio.
That match was also marred by mass anti-Semitic chants by Lazio fans, an offence which led to a suspended one-match stand closure.
The Jewish community had in the past urged authorities in Italy to do more to root out anti-Semitism in stadiums. “Is it possible that everyone keeps ignoring this?” the president of Rome’s Jewish Community Ruth Dureghello had tweeted after that game.
A fortnight before, a group of around 100 of Lazio fans were filmed proudly calling themselves racist in a chant which insulted Roma supporters by saying their fathers were deported to Nazi concentration camps.
The incident was one of a litany involving Lazio’s hardcore fans, some of the most right wing in a country where fascist fan groups are a widespread phenomenon.
Last season, the handler of Lazio’s eagle mascot praised dictators Benito Mussolini and Francisco Franco after being suspended by the club for performing a fascist salute at the end of a match.
Two players in Serie A – Atalanta midfielder Mario Pasalic and Lazio’s Toma Basic, both Croatia internationals – wore the No. 88 on their shirts last season. AFP, REUTERS
