Romano Floriani Mussolini has featured for Lazio's U23 'Primavera' side in recent weeks and now makes the step up to the first team after stating his ambition to play in Serie A; Floriani Mussolini: "Here at Lazio I'm judged only for the way I play and not because my surname is Mussolini"
Wednesday 24 March 2021 13:07, UK
Lazio have signed Romano Floriani Mussolini, the great-grandson of Italy's former fascist leader Benito Mussolini, on a professional contract until 2024 after he impressed for their youth teams.
The 18-year-old right-back previously played for Lazio's U23 'Primavera' side as well as the U18 team, managed by former Lazio striker Tommaso Rocchi.
Floriani Mussolini is the son of Benito Mussolini's granddaughter Alessandra - an Italian politician, TV personality and former member of the European Parliament.
He has decided to use both of his surnames, as allowed by Italian state law, and says he is unfazed by his links to his great-grandfather.
"Here at Lazio I'm judged only for the way I play and not because my surname is Mussolini," he told Roman daily Il Messaggero earlier this month.
A minority of Lazio fans, known as "ultras", have links to the far right. A number of banners expressing pride in the fascist movement have been flown at the Stadio Olimpico's Curva Nord over the years, including one saying "Rome is fascist".
In 2005, former player Paolo Di Canio gave a fascist salute to Lazio fans in the Curva Nord after a derby win against Roma. After receiving a ban, Di Canio said: "I am a fascist, not a racist".
In 2017 some Lazio fans pasted anti-Semitic stickers of Anne Frank in a Roma shirt across the city.
