Italian football moved on Tuesday to step up its efforts against anti-Semitism, in particular by banning jerseys bearing the inscription ’88,’ which symbolises ‘Heil Hitler’ in the neo-Nazi movement.
It also agreed to encourage the interruption of matches in the event of discriminatory slogans.
“On these issues, we are not backing down an inch, because the credibility of football, which is also wounded by discriminatory behaviour, has a direct impact on Italian society,” the president of the Italian Football Federation, Gabriele Gravina, stressed in a statement after signing a charter alongside the interior and sports ministries.
No '88' jerseys allowed
In the text, the football world undertakes in particular “not to assign players a jersey bearing the number 88, considered to be an explicit reference to Nazi symbolism.”
In the neo-Nazi movement, this number is used to signify Heil Hitler, ‘H’ being the 8th letter of the alphabet.
Two players wore the number last season in Serie A: Atalanta Bergamo’s Croatian midfielder Mario Pasalic and his Lazio Rome compatriot Toma Basic.
Matches to be stopped in the event of anti-Semitic chants
Through the charter signed on Tuesday, which has 13 points, Italian football also undertakes to take steps to be able to stop a match in the event of “anti-Semitic chants, acts and expressions” in a stadium.
In March, after the capital derby, the president of Rome’s Jewish community, Ruth Dureghello, denounced anti-Semitic behaviour by Lazio fans.
A key piece of evidence presented in Dureghello's denunciation was the photo of a spectator wearing a shirt with the name 'Hitlerson' and the number 88.
Fan banned for life
The fan was identified and banned from the stadium for “life” a few days later by Lazio.
Last September, the Federation was also approached after anti-Semitic chants by Juventus and Inter Milan fans.
