Lazio ultras once again have bought shame on their club after a banner announcing Elseid Hysaj a worm and that Lazio is fascist.
It has been reported in Italy’s most famous sporting newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport that the 27-year-old Albanian full back, who recently joined on a free transfer from Napoli, found himself in the middle of controversy.
At the training camp in Auronzo di Cadore he decided to sing Bella Ciao for his initiation song after the club’s 10-0 friendly win over Radio Club.
The song has become famous after being used in the Spanish TV series La Casa del Papel, but it also has well-known in Italy that it is a famous partisan song that was connected with people’s political allegiance – it is a very divisive song.
Some have claimed that the reason the former Napoli and Empoli man chose the song was because of the TV programme while others feel it is due to his political beliefs.
One thing is for sure if that it is a strange way to introduce a new signing and at the start of the new regime under Maurizio Sarri.
Lazio have released the following statement: “It is the duty of the club to protect one of its members and to avoid personal and political exploitation that certainly in this case has nothing to do with the informal and friendly context in which the episode took place.”
The banner that appeared on a bridge on Corsa di Francia in the north of Rome stated: “Hysaj worm, Lazio is fascist”.
On a positive lots of fans based both locally and internationally on social media have reacted showing support for Hysaj with the hashtag #iostoconHysaj.
People say that politics and sport should not be mixed but sadly the reality is that they always have been throughout history and still are today.
