Lazio have recalled Romano Floriani Mussolini to the club following his loan spell at Serie B side Juve Stabia. The 22-year-old right back is the great-grandson of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and son of Alessandra Mussolini, a former European MP for Silvio Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party.Mussolini initially joined Lazio in 2022 but did not make any appearances for the club. He spent the 2023-24 season on loan at Pescara, where he played 32 matches.At Juve Stabia, Mussolini established himself as a regular starter, making 37 appearances across all competitions. He contributed one goal and four assists during his time there. Despite Juve Stabia’s interest in signing him permanently, Lazio opted to bring him back.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Fascist fan groups have been present across Italian football, with Lazio’s hardcore supporters maintaining ties to the extreme right since the 1970s. The club’s historic ultras group, the ‘Irriducibili’, maintained friendly relations with similarly right-wing supporters at Inter and Verona.Verona’s fan base has been involved in several controversial incidents. Their supporters have directed racist chants at Mario Balotelli and Franck Kessie, displayed swastikas in the stadium, and once arranged cars at a fan gathering to form a Nazi symbol in 2014.Some 20 years ago, former Verona club president Giambattista Pastorello stated he wouldn’t sign a black player due to potential fan reaction.Nine years prior to that statement, Verona fans wearing Ku Klux Klan hoods hung an effigy of black Dutch player Maickel Ferrier from the stands. This incident occurred in protest of his potential signing, which was subsequently cancelled.
