Rome police investigate Lazio fans for alleged acts of racial discrimination and anti-Semitism
Friday 27 October 2017 13:14, UK
Police are investigating 13 Lazio fans for alleged acts of racial discrimination after images of Anne Frank wearing a Roma shirt were found in the Stadio Olimpico.
Closed-circuit television was used to identify the accused and the police have said that six of the fans belong to the 'ultras' group 'Irriducibili', which translates as 'diehards'.
Thirteen of the fans are being investigated for acts of racial discrimination "for putting up anti-Semitic material featuring offensive content which could incite racial hatred".
On Friday, the police said that 13 fans have been banned from attending any sports events in Italy, 12 of them for five years and one for eight years because that person has already served three previous bans.
A passage from Frank's diary was read before all Italian league matches this week as part of a number of initiatives to condemn the acts of anti-Semitism and to keep alive memories of the Holocaust.
The measures came after reports of Lazio fans littering the Stadio Olimpico with pictures of Frank in a Roma shirt alongside anti-Semitic slogans.
The stickers were found by cleaners on Monday and the Italian soccer federation opened an investigation into the incident.
The investigation could lead to Lazio being forced to play their matches behind closed doors as this becomes the latest incident in a series of racism and anti-Semitism acts involving Lazio fans.
