This might sound like a bad joke, but it’s not. This Monday, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) launched a procedure concerning the behavior of supporters of the 2nd division club Juve Stabia who celebrated with fascist salutes a goal scored by Romano Floriani Mussolini, great-grandson by Benito Mussolini.
“Employees of the federal prosecutor’s office (of the FIGC) will send a report on the incident, accompanied by video documents, to the sports judge of the Series B League so that he can make a decision,” the FIGC told AFP.
Fascist salute in the stands?
Sunday, during the match counting for the 18th day of the Italian 2nd division Championship, between Juve Stabia and Cesena, Romano Floriani Mussolini scored the winning goal in the 21st minute (1-0), his first goal in the Juve Stabia jersey.
According to images posted on social networks, to celebrate this goal, dozens of supporters of the club from the town of Castellammare di Stabia, near Naples, repeatedly shouted “Mussolini” at the stadium announcer’s call, making which resembles the Roman salute or the fascist salute, the arm extended towards the horizon.
Son of a former Italian MP
Floriani Mussolini celebrated his goal, his first in the professional ranks, by putting his index finger to his mouth, a gesture often used by football players to silence their detractors.
The young defender, aged 21, was trained at Lazio Rome, a club often accused of having a history linked to the Italian far right, which loaned him last summer to Juve Stabia, after a 2023-24 season spent in 3rd division.
Since his arrival, the right-back, whose jersey is emblazoned with an F followed by Mussolini, has played all the matches for his team which occupies 4th place in Serie B. His mother Alessandra, a former Italian and European MP, is the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, founder of fascism who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.
“He was a very important figure for Italy”
In an interview at the Gazzetta dello Sport Last month, he announced his ambition to play in Serie A and wear the Italian team jersey.
“What can I do about it?” What matters is what I do on the pitch,” he said in this interview with his surname and his ancestor. “He was a very important figure for Italy, but we are now in 2024 and the world has changed,” he added.