Romano Benito Floriani Mussolini (born 27 January 2003), also referred to as Mussolini Jr. by Italian media, is an Italian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

right midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for club

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. He is the son of politician

Alessandra Mussolini Alessandra is a female given name of Italian origin, meaning ''defender of men''. It is the Italian form of the female given name Alexandra and the female form of the male given name Alessandro. Alessandra may refer to: * Alessandra Ambrosio (bo ...

, the grandson of pianist

Romano Mussolini Romano Bruno Mussolini (26 September 1927 – 3 February 2006) was an Italian jazz pianist, painter, and film producer. He was the fourth child and youngest son of Benito Mussolini. Early life and education Romano Mussolini was native of Vi ...

and the great-grandson of the Italian fascist dictator

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Early life

Floriani Mussolini was born in 2003 as the third child of Mauro Floriani and former politician

. His mother's father,

, was a pianist, and her grandfather was Italian fascist dictator

. He has a

double surname A double-barrelled name is a type of compound surname, typically featuring two words (occasionally more), often joined by a hyphen. Examples of some notable people with double-barrelled names include Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Sacha Baron Co ...

as a result. This was done as an exception to

Italian name A name in the Italian language consists of a given name ( it, nome), and a surname (); in most contexts, the given name is written before the surname. (In official documents, the Western surname may be written before the given name or names.) Ital ...

customs with Italian civil authorities and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

agreeing to it at his baptism as double surnames were not usually allowed under Italian law at the time of his birth.

Career

Floriani Mussolini started his football career by playing in the youth teams at

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

, before moving to play for

when he was 13. Whilst at Lazio, he was loaned out in 2018 to amateur club Vigor Perconti. This came after he did not get any game time at Lazio for two years before he made his debut for the under-17s. In 2021, Floriani Mussolini gained worldwide attention for playing for Lazio, due to the club's supporters' traditional association with

neo-fascism Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology that includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, racial supremacy, populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xenophobia, and anti-immigration sen ...

. When asked if the player's name would limit his playing time, Lazio's youth coach Mauro Bianchessi stated: "The burdensome surname? I’ve never spoken to his parents, and the only thing that matters is whether a player deserves to play. Nothing else." In March 2021, Floriani Mussolini signed a professional senior contract with Lazio until 2024. He was first called-up to Lazio's first team on 24 October 2021, in a

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

game against

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

as an unused substitute.

Personal life

Floriani Mussolini gained attention after appearing on television with his mother on ''

Ballando con le Stelle ''Ballando con le Stelle'' is the Italian version of the ''Strictly Come Dancing'' / ''Dancing with the Stars'' franchises. It was first broadcast on 8 January 2005 on TV station RAI 1. This show is aired in the prime time, usually of saturday ...

''. In spite of his surname and lineage, Floriani Mussolini stated he has no interest in politics. He was educated at

St. George's British International School St George's British International School is an independent, not-for-profit international school located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1958 to serve Rome's British, international and expatriate communities, and today educates more than 900 ...

in Rome, and signed for Lazio whilst still studying.

References

External links

Lazio official profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Floriani Mussolini, Romano 2003 births Living people Footballers from Rome Italian footballers Men's association football fullbacks Men's association football midfielders A.S. Roma players S.S. Lazio players Mussolini family