Juve defender Stabia and descendant of the Italian dictator scored the only goal of the Serie B match won by his team on Sunday December 22. A video published on the networks shows part of the public chanting their last name, while doing the Roman salute, considered an apology for fascism.
A first goal among the pros which caused a stir. Romano Floriani Mussolini, great-grandson of, scored the only goal for his Juve Stabia team against Cesena on Sunday, during what seemed to be an ordinary Serie B match, the equivalent of League 2 in Italy. Banal, until the 21-year-old descendant of the “Duce”, wearing a Mussolini jersey, came to celebrate his work in front of his club's supporters. A video posted on social networks shows the player exulting by putting his index finger to his mouth, as if to tell everyone to be quiet, then cheering under an effervescent stand at the stadium in Castellammare di Stabia, a town located on the southern outskirts of Naples .
We hear the speaker say: «Roman to dial»and the supporters chant: «Mussolini» repeatedly, raising their hands in what looks exactly like Roman salutes. That is to say the arm extended upwards, the palm of the hand downwards and the fingers clenched. A gesture very close to the fascist salute, and moreover related as such since since January 18, 2024, the Roman salute now constitutes an offense of advocating fascism, as ruled by the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation. On X, journalist Nima Tavallaey Roodsari, who co-hosts a podcast on Italian football, talks about a scene «bizarre»explaining that Juve Stabia supporters are historically considered to be left-wing.
The player bears the name of both his father – a former officer of the Finance Guard – and that of his mother, the former European MP Alessandra Mussolini, granddaughter of the “Duce”. First entering politics as a deputy from the Italian Social Movement, a former neofascist party formed by supporters of Benito Mussolini after the Second World War, she continued until 2024, having in the meantime joined the formation of right Forza Italia, founded by Silvio Berlusconi.
“How happy this Roman salute gives me!”
Romano Floriani Mussolini arrived at Juve Stabia this summer, on loan from his original club, Lazio Rome, whose public is notorious for his connections with the Italian far-right. Celtic crosses, monkey cries, fascist salutes, banners on Auschwitz and even photos taken of Anne Frank, in October 2017: the ultras of Lazio Rome are regularly singled out for racist or anti-Semitic acts. In 2021, a video filmed at the Lazio stadium showed a man with an impressively sized eagle perched on his arm (the symbol bird of Lazio) giving the fascist salute facing towards the supporters, who shouted back “Duke! Duke!”.
Without forgetting the outstretched hands of the Italian player Paolo Di Canio in front of the stands, on several occasions, during matches under the colors of Lazio between 2004 and 2006. Gestures which had at the time been defended by… Alessandra Mussolini, mother of Romano Floriani, who then declared: “How happy this Roman salute makes me!”
Romano Mussolini ensures that he stays away from the controversies that his name arouses. When he played for Lazio, he only wore his father's name on his jersey, with an M followed by a dot. With Juve, this time he decided to take his mother's name and reduce his father's name to an F followed by a period. “My great-grandfather Benito was a very important figure for Italy, but we are in 2024 and the world has changed”he explained curiously in a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“These controversies linked to my last name do not interest me. There will always be prejudice, but my job has nothing to do with that and it doesn't bother me. People will always talk, but my mother says I don't care. I am for challenges: if I have to shut the mouths of those who have prejudices about my last name, I do it. Not sure that this has been the case since Sunday.
