The case is causing a stir, so much so that it has forced Lazio Rome to react. This Tuesday, Elseid Hysaj, freshly landed in Rome, was attacked by ultras Laziale. The reason ? During the usual hazing which marks the integration of a player into his new team, the Albanian side decided to sing "
Bella Ciao
". Standing on his chair, Hysaj sings it at the top of his lungs under the hilarious gaze of his teammates who never fail to take up the famous chorus. This event could have remained a simple moment of relaxation within a group of footballers, but the video broadcast on the networks resurfaced the old demons of Lazio Rome.
Because if “
Bella Ciao
” is today associated with the Netflix series “
La Casa De Papel
”, it remains above all the hymn of the partisans who fought against fascism and Nazism during the Second World War in Italy.
The sequence triggered a wave of hatred among some Lazio ultras who openly claim to be fascists.
Thus, the latter delivered a message against the player in the streets of Rome.
"
Hysaj parasitizes, Lazio is fascist
", one could read on a banner.
Lazio strongly condemns the banner
This sad event logically brought back bad memories and caused a lot of ink to flow in Italy. On social media, a wave of support for Hysaj spread through the hashtag #iostoconHysaj. With this hashtag, the supporters of Lazio reject the words of the ultras and confide their weariness to see their club associated with the fascist ideology. Lazio Rome was also quick to react with a statement in which it strongly condemns the banner that it describes as "
shameful
". "
This is not the first episode of this type. We will never be on the side of those who deny the values of sport. [...] We clearly distance ourselves from those who want to exploit this event which harms the image of the team, the supporters of Lazio and the club. [...] We will not be intimidated by those who use violent and aggressive tones: for them, there is no place in our club which is inspired by healthy sporting values of loyalty, competition, respect mutual, to live together and aiming to overcome all barriers of a social, cultural, economic and racial nature.
"
This episode is unfortunately not new for Lazio, which for many years has experienced many problems with a fascist part of its supporters. For example, in April 2019, a group of supporters illustrated with a banner paying tribute to dictator Benito Mussolini. In 2004, these fascist tendencies were even manifested directly on the green rectangle, when the player Paulo Di Canio made several fascist salutes during the Roman derby. Unfortunately, this new controversy is a little more tarnish a reputation that Lazio Rome is so hard to get rid of.
