The S.S. Lazio fans are
supporters
In heraldry, supporters, sometimes referred to as ''attendants'', are figures or objects usually placed on either side of the Escutcheon (heraldry), shield and depicted holding it up.
Early forms of supporters are found in medieval seals. H ...
of Italian football club
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
.
History
The beginning
The history of organized fan groups of
S.S. Lazio
Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...
, known in Italian as the ''Tifoseria Laziale'', began in the late 1960s when small groups of supporters filled the steps of
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
. They belonged to different groups which were ''Tuparamos, Eagles, Ultras, Vigilantes, NAB, CAST'' and ''Marines'', the latter consisting mostly of younger fans.
The foundation of Eagles Supporters
The early groups were not united and so in 1971, the first major
ultras
Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...
group was formed: Commandos Monteverde Lazio, also known as ''C.M.L. '74''. In October 1976, a new club was formed in order to unify the supporters from the north to south stands under the temporary name ''G.A.B.A. (Gruppi Associati Bianco Azzurri)''. They decide to rename the group in ''Eagles' Supporters'': the inspiration came from a member of the ''Brigate Gialloblù'', the main
Hellas Verona F.C.
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 ...
ultras group, who usually write "Hellas Supporters" on his letters. The 1st October 1978 during Lazio vs Juventus, in the first round of the
1978-79 Serie A, the ''Eagles' Supporters'' exposed their 56 meters banner in Curva Nord for the first time.
From 1978 to 1987
In 1978, a group called ''VIKING Lazio'' was formed, and took their place in the Curva Sud. In this same year, the Eagles Supporters, who originally began in the south stands, made their way to Curva Nord, which became the main Lazio terrace. Other small groups followed the Eagles besides Viking.
In 1979, a flare fired by a
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 ...
fan from the opposite end of the stadium hit Lazio fan Vincenzo Paparelli in the eye and killed him. It was the first fatality in Italian football due to violence.
During the 1980s, the Curva Nord was admired and imitated by the rest of
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
because of their passion and originality which set them apart from the rest. During this time, Lazio's fans created what is known in Italy as a ''gemellaggio'', or twinning, with fans of Bari, Torino and especially Triestina.
Despite this decade being one of Lazio's worst in history, avoiding a
Third division relegation on a play-out match, the Curva became a major expression of passion, with several travelling groups filling opposition grounds around the country. The club maintained a significant number of supporters despite the fact that Lazio was playing in
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...
at the time. Approximately 20,000 fans followed the team to
Pisa
Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
and
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
, 4,000 travelled to
Udine
Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...
, 80,000 attended a home match against
Catania
Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...
. Up to 35,000 travelled south to
Napoli
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
for Lazio's clashes with
Campobasso
Campobasso (, ; nap, label= Campobassan, Cambuàsce ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sann ...
and
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
, two matches which became etched in the club's history and meant that the club avoided relegation to
Serie C
The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C.
The unification of the Lega Pro ...
.
The arrival of the Irriducibili
During a Lazio-
Padova
Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...
match in 1987, a 10 meter long banner announced the arrival of a new Ultra group on the scene, ''Irriducibili Lazio'' formed by Antonio Grinta. ''Irriducibili'' rose to power in the Curva Nord and revolutionized the way Lazio fans supported their side. No more drums were used but English chanting styles were adopted. This contrasted boldly with the Italian style of the ''Eagles Supporters'', and by 1992, Irriducibili were by far Lazio's most powerful group as the ''Eagles Supporters'' disbanded.
With the arrival of the new club president,
Sergio Cragnotti
Sergio Cragnotti (; born 9 January 1940, in Rome, Italy) is an Italian entrepreneur and author.
One of the most high-profile and wealthy business figures in Italy in recent times, Cragnotti is best known for having been President of S.S. Lazio. ...
, Lazio qualified for European competition becoming one of the world's strongest teams. During this period, Lazio ultras formed close ties with both
Interisti and
Veronesi. In addition to these, relationships with supporters of
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
,
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
and
Paris Saint Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...
developed.
The number of traveling Lazio fans did not drop from the "old days" though, as approximately 4,000 travelled to
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
and
Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, 20,000 to
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, 15,000 to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
for the
1999 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final and 10,000 to
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
for the
UEFA Supercup
The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offici ...
despite being allocated only 3,500 tickets.
The new millennium
![Tifosi curva nord lazio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Tifosi_curva_nord_lazio.jpg)
The
2002–03 Serie A
The 2002–03 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 101st season of top-tier Italian football, the 71st in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 15th consecutive time from season 1988–89.
...
season was an important year for the ''Irriducibili'' as they achieved their fifteenth anniversary and in that same year, Lazio opted to
retire the jersey number 12, permanently dedicated to Curva Nord.
The Curva Nord was led by the ''Banda Noantri''; a group which existed from 2000 until 2005 but then disappeared due to some of the members getting banned from the stadium or sentenced to prison. They took over the Curva Nord from the Irriducibili during the season 2009/10, when the leaders of Irriducibili decided to invite politician Polverini on to the Curva Nord, which was not accepted by the vast majority of the ultras on the Curva Nord and on Tribuna Tevere. The leaders are members from the group ''Banda Noantri'' and from ''In Basso a Destra''. Apart from those there are the ''CML '74''. Groups such as Viking and Veterani disappeared many years ago. The ''Legione Mr. Enrich'' are based in the old Curva Sud-Maestrelli together with ''Ardite Schiere''. In 2006, ''Sodalizio'' was born, allowing fans all over Italy to follow Lazio more actively, in both home and away matches. On 7 August 2019, Fabrizio "Diabolik" Piscitelli the leader of the Irriducibili, who was also involved in crime, was murdered. After 33 years, the Irriducibili disbanded on 27 February 2020, citing "too much blood, too many banning orders, too many arrests."
Gabriele Sandri case
On the morning of 11 November 2007 26-year-old
Lazio
it, Laziale
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
fan Gabriele Sandri, a
DJ from Rome, was killed by a shot in his neck while sitting inside a car, by a policeman, after some other fans of Lazio violently assaulted a group of
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
ultras with stones on the
A1 Motorway
A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to:
Education
* A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
* Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects
* A1, a ...
service station of Badia al Pino in
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
.
Early reports suggested that a
stray bullet A stray bullet is a bullet that, after being fired from a gun, hits an unintended target. Such a shooting accident may occur due to missing a target when hunting or sport-shooting or celebrating weddings, as a result of accidental/negligent discha ...
from a gun, set to distract the group of
ultras
Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...
, hit the Lazio fan in the neck as he sat in a car and killed him.
An emergency meeting set up between
Lega Calcio
The Lega Nazionale Professionisti (Italian for National Professionals League), commonly known as Lega Calcio (Football League), was the governing body that ran the two highest football divisions in Italy, namely Serie A and Serie B, from 1946 to ...
president
Antonio Matarrese
Antonio Matarrese (born 4 July 1940) is an Italian sports manager for football. He is known for having owned A.S. Bari for almost 20 years.
Family
His brothers also worked in notable positions. Giuseppe Matarrese, was the Bishop of Frascati from ...
and police chief Antonio Manganelli decided that the game between
Inter
Inter may refer to:
Association football clubs
* Inter Milan, an Italian club
* SC Internacional, a Brazilian club
* Inter Miami CF, an American club
* FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club
* FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club
* FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...
and Lazio would be called off, but the rest of the fixtures would go ahead that day, starting at a slightly later time (about 10 minutes later).
The Atalanta–Milan game was eventually suspended following unrest caused by local ultras attempting to break off the protection glass in order to invade the pitch and stop the match. Later in the afternoon, the Italian Football Federation chose to postpone also the game between Roma and
Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...
, whose kick off was scheduled for 8:30 pm at
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
, Rome. However, this did not prevent violent riots, as hundreds of armed hooligans attacked a police barracks and the CONI (Italian Olympic National Committee) headquarters in Rome.
Though Sandri's death was later held by some to have been caused by a tragic error by a policeman who claimed his gun went off as he was running. Prosecutors then opted initially to open an inquiry into manslaughter against the policeman; nevertheless, the initial hearing held that Sandri's death was culpable homicide, and the policeman involved (Luigi Spaccarotella) was condemned to 6 years imprisonment. On appeal, the higher court not only confirmed this judgment, but increased the punishment to 9 years and 4 months as an element of intentionality was found.
''Gemellaggi''
Lazio ultras' strongest friendship is with the ultras of
Inter
Inter may refer to:
Association football clubs
* Inter Milan, an Italian club
* SC Internacional, a Brazilian club
* Inter Miami CF, an American club
* FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club
* FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club
* FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...
. This friendship was born around the mid-1980s and has grown stronger in recent years with the
1997–98 UEFA Cup
The 1997–98 UEFA Cup was won by Internazionale in an all-Italian final against Lazio. It was their third title in eight years in the competition.
It was the first instance of the UEFA Cup final being a one-game contest at a neutral stadium, ha ...
final in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
and the infamous
2001–02 Serie A
The 2001–02 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 100th season of top-tier Italian football, the 70th in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 14th consecutive time from season 1988–89.
...
season decider on 5 May 2002 at the
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
, when many fans of Lazio supported Inter, their opposition, hoping they would claim the
Scudetto
The ''scudetto'' (Italian language, Italian for: "little shield") is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in ...
instead of hated rival
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
. The match ended 4–2 to Lazio, a result which saw Inter lose their title on the last day.
Another twinning of Lazio was born during the 80s, with
Triestina
Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to as Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Originally founded in 1918, the club has been re-established several times in its history. As of the ...
. It was formed when the two sides were both playing in
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...
. During a match against Lazio, the Triestina ultras unfurled a banner, stating in
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
: ''Welcome Eagles, together we return''. The twinning got stronger when, during a
Coppa Italia
The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since.
History
The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...
match at the
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
, between Triestina and Lazio's hated rivals Roma, the Triestina fans displayed Lazio banners in their terrace.
A friendship is held between the Lazio ultras and those of
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 ...
. This is based on the two groups both being on the right-wing politically, and sharing the same ultras principles. However, Verona fans are twinned with those of
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...
, historically a rival of Lazio, which means there is only an ''amicizia'', or friendship, instead of a true twinning. Another similar friendship is shared with the ultras of
Chieti
Chieti (, ; , nap, label= Abruzzese, Chjïétë, ; gr, Θεάτη, Theátē; lat, Theate, ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Central Italy, east by northeast of Rome. It is the capital of the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region. ...
.
Since they first played in Europe, Lazio began to develop friendships at an international level. The most important are those with the
Real Madrid
Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid.
Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...
ultras known as ''Ultras Sur'',
Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...
Brigadas,
Levski Sofia
Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 b ...
,
West Ham
West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham.
The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancien ...
and
Wisla Krakow
The first, with Real Madrid, was born in 2001 during a
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...
match between the two teams, while that with West Ham grew from the two teams mutual love for
Paolo Di Canio
Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, ...
, who started his career at Lazio before moving to West Ham in the late 1990s and has since seen fans of both West Ham and Lazio attending each other's matches on a regular basis.
Rivalries
Lazio's most notable rivalry is with Lazio neighbours AS Roma, with matches between the two teams referred to as
Derby della Capitale
The Derby della Capitale ( en, Derby of the capital city), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and Ro ...
. The Rome derby has been the scene of several actions related to the political views of the fan bases. Some of Lazio's ultras used to use
swastika
The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...
s and
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
symbols on their banners, and they have displayed
racist
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...
behaviour in several occasions during the derbies. Most notably, at a derby of the season 1998–99, laziali unfurled a 50-metre banner around the Curva Nord that read, "
Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
is your town, the ovens are your houses". Furthermore, laziali have often been recorded doing the infamous
Roman Salute
The Roman salute, alternatively called the Fascist salute, is a gesture in which the right arm is fully extended, facing forward, with palm down and fingers touching. In some versions, the arm is raised upward at an angle; in others, it is held ...
. Black players of Roma have often been receivers of racist and offensive behaviour. During the late 1970s, Lazio developed a strong hate for
Pescara Calcio
Delfino Pescara 1936, commonly referred to as Pescara, is a professional Italian football club based in Pescara, Abruzzo.
The club was formed in 1936 and currently plays in Serie C. Pescara has competed in seven seasons in Serie A, 1977–78, ...
, who in return consider Lazio a rival.
[ The ultras consider both ]Livorno
Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...
and Atalanta
Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology.
There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...
to be among their greatest enemies. Both of these rivalries were born due to political ideologies, with both Livorno and Atalanta having predominately left-wing fans, while Lazio's hardcore is far-right. Lazio icon Paolo Di Canio
Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a forward. He primarily played as a deep-lying forward, ...
and Livorno icon Cristiano Lucarelli
Cristiano Lucarelli (; born 4 October 1975) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a striker from 1992 until 2012. He was most recently the manager of Serie B club Ternana.
Club career
Lucarelli was born in Livorno, I ...
have both performed controversial ideological salutes to fans during some of their matches. Other rivals in Italy include Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...
, Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
, Napoli
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
and Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
.
Racist and anti-Semitic incidents
In 1998, a group of Lazio fans unfurled an anti-Semitic banner
A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...
which read: "Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...
Is Your Country; the Ovens Are Your Homes". Afterward, the Italian Football Federation
The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.
It ...
had ordered a passage from "''The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...
''" to be read out loud before all games the following weeks. In 2000, some Lazio fans had showed another banner in a match against Roma, which read: "Squad of blacks, terrace of Jews". In 2017, Lazio president Claudio Lotito
Claudio Lotito (born 9 May 1957 in Rome) is an Italian entrepreneur and politician. He is the owner and president of the Serie A football club S.S. Lazio since 2004.
Lotito earned his high school diploma in Classics at Ugo Foscolo Classical Ly ...
visited a synagogue in Rome and brought a floral wreath in remembrance of Holocaust victims
Holocaust victims were people targeted by the government of Nazi Germany based on their ethnicity, religion, political beliefs, or sexual orientation. The institutionalized practice by the Nazis of singling out and persecuting people resulted ...
, as some Lazio fans had posted stickers of Anne Frank
Annelies Marie "Anne" Frank (, ; 12 June 1929 – )Research by The Anne Frank House in 2015 revealed that Frank may have died in February 1945 rather than in March, as Dutch authorities had long assumed"New research sheds new light on Anne Fra ...
wearing a jersey of rivals Roma.
On 4 January 2023, during a Serie A match between Lecce
Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...
and Lazio, Lecce players Samuel Umtiti and Lameck Banda were the subject of racist chants by the visitor section of Lazio supporters.
See also
*Avanti ragazzi di Buda
"Avanti ragazzi di Buda" (; hu, Előre budai srácok) is an Italian anti-communist song written by Pier Francesco Pingitore and composed by Dimitri Gribanovski. It commemorates the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and is a widespread and well-know ...
, a popular song among S.S. Lazio supporters
References
Further reading
# Testa, A. and Armstrong, G. (2008). "Words and actions: Italian ultras and neo-fascism" Social Identities, vol. 14 (4), pp. 473 – 490
# Testa, A. (2009) "UltraS: an Emerging Social Movement", Review of European Studies, vol. 1 (2), 54–63
# Testa, A. (2010). Contested Meanings: the Italian Media and the UltraS. Review of European Studies, vol 2(1), 15–24
# Testa, A. and Armstrong, G. (in press; November 2010). Football, Fascism and Fandom: The UltraS of Italian Football, A&C (Bloomsbury), London, Black Publishers.
External links
Lazio fans sing West Ham anthem
{{DEFAULTSORT:S.S. Lazio Fans
S.S. Lazio
Italian football supporters' associations