SS Lazio, the Rome-based soccer club, has re-signed 22-year-old Romano Floriani Mussolini, bringing one of Italy’s most infamous surnames back to the capital.
Why It Matters
The move means a return by the great-grandson of Benito Mussolini to a club whose supporters have a reputation for links to far-right politics. For example, “ultra” fans unfurled a banner reading “Honor to Benito Mussolini” ahead of a 2019 match in Milan.
What To Know
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Mussolini is son of former European Parliament member Alessandra Mussolini and great-grandson of the man who was the dictator of Facist Italy from 1922 until 1943, when he was overthrown.
The 22-year-old’s last season was at second-tier Juve Stabia, where he made 37 appearances, produced four assists, and scored once, a goal that made headlines when fans reportedly responded with fascist salutes from the stands, yelling “Mussolini.”
“Probably nobody expected to ever witness this in an Italian stadium,” daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano wrote at the time. “This is not some dystopic future and was not generated by AI, it’s real and has been seen around the world.”
Juve Stabia denied its fans had made fascist salutes.
“We do not accept exploitation for a golden boy like Romano Floriani Mussolini and the same thing goes for our fans who have cheered as they have always done in the past with any other athlete,” Juve Stabia said in a statement at the time.
The club exercised its option to buy Mussolini, but Lazio retained a counter-option allowing the team to buy him back, the Laziali.com reported.
Mussolini was in Lazio’s youth ranks but has yet to make an appearance for the senior team.
He has sought to separate his personal identity from his ancestry, telling sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport in 2021: “My great-grandfather, Benito, was a very important person for Italy but we are in 2024 and the world has changed.”
Benito Mussolini, himself a soccer fan, leveraged Italy’s 1934 World Cup win to promote fascism globally, The Times reported.
What People Are Saying
Juve Stabia said in a statement on its website: “SS Juve Stabia 1907 announces that it has exercised the option to buy the defender born in 2003, Romano Floriani Mussolini, who joined from SS Lazio in the terms set by federal regulations.
“At the same time, and within the time limit, SS Lazio has exercised their counter-option to buy back the player, as set out in the agreements signed last season.”
What Happens Next
Lazio play in Italy’s top division, Serie A. Should Mussolini break into the first team he could play in the club’s first fixture of the 2024/25 season against Como 1907 on August 24.