Roman Son: Lazio's Controversial Idol Paolo Di Canio

Ozren Podnar reports...

Paolo Di Canio, such a wonderful player, and such distorted beliefs.

The veteran forward now approaching his 37th birthday is still delivering the goods for Lazio, but his popularity among the hard-core fans is enormous not only because of his undisputed footballing skills. His values and philosophy have found a fertile ground among the faithful of this club traditionally attracting right-wing elements of Roman society.

After returning to Lazio after 14 years at various Italian and English clubs, Di Canio has made his mark by scoring some important goals on the field, as well as by reasserting his affiliation to right-wing ideology, much to the delight of Lazio ultras.

His status as the icon of the "Irriducibili" (Indomitables), Lazio's fiercest ultra group, reached new heights in early January, when he celebrated his team's win over Roma with a gesture reminiscent of the fascist salute (incidentally called "saluto a la romana", the Roman salute).

After Lazio won 3-1, thanks to a great performance by Di Canio, the captain faced the crowd with his right arm raised and palm open. The disciplinary committee thereafter started an investigation, eventually fining him 10,000 euros.

The same fine was applied to the club for their "objective responsibility" for the player's outburst. Di Canio claimed his gesture was a simple greeting to the fans without any political connotations.

Few people believed the declared fan of Benito Mussolini--who himself was a Lazio fan during his fascist party heyday. DiCanio has the tattoo DUX on his arm (dux is Latin for duce, leader), and he has devoted a chapter in his autobiography to Il Duce himself, partly condemning, partly praising the former dictator.

Should fans pay the fine?

Although Di Canio could easily afford paying the fine on his seven-figure annual salary, his right-wing allies have taken the opportunity of making a grand political statement. The post-fascist Alleanza Nazionale, a member of the ruling coalition, has proposed fund-raising among Lazio fans in order to collect the supposedly "shameful" 10,000 euros that their hero is supposed to pay.

The Alleanza's proposal has unnerved many people in Italy, but its European Parliament member Romano La Russa defended the move describing it as a "gesture of solidarity, friendship and understanding for Di Canio, over an absurd punishment."

The representatives of this conservative organization invited the Football Association to "pay attention to more serious problems affecting soccer" and criticized the FA for not punishing Livorno's player Cristiano Lucarelli, who celebrated one of his goals with the communist salute, a raised left fist.

There is a good reason Di Canio's return to Lazio was enthusiastically welcomed by the light blue part of Rome. The fans have always considered him as "one of them" and rightly so, since he travelled with the fans to away games even when he was already a distinguished member of Lazio's youth team back then in mid-eighties.

During such trips he allegedly used to get into trouble while defending the club's colours and honour. Still, when one of fights with rival fans was interrupted by the police, it was a group of Roma followers that helped him escape and later refused to identify him as one of the participants in the fighting!

A diving referee

Born in the modest, working-class Roman neighborhood of Quarticciolo, Di Canio displayed a difficult temperament right from the start. "I like to say what I think", he says, but his impulsive and conflict-prone personality has continuously gotten him into trouble.

At Juventus, he fought with coaches Maifredi and Trapattoni. He fled from Turin to Napoli, but then signed for Milan where he found another foe. "How do I get along with Capello? The farther I am from him, the better I feel," he said.

After winning the 1996 Italian championship with Milan, he made a career move by joining Celtic, where he became an undisputed hero. A fervent conservative Catholic, he felt at home at Park Head and ended up being voted the player of the year in Scotland.

This title came to be his ticket to the Premiership. At Sheffield Wednesday he distinguished himself with many great displays on the pitch, but he made history in 1998 by pushing referee Paul Alcock after being showed a red card. Alcock stumbled and fell but Di Canio claimed the ref had fallen deliberately ("he looked like someone who dived") so that the FA could punish him. And it did, to the tune of 11 games and 10,000 pounds, ending his tenure at Wednesday.

After serving the suspension, he was signed by West Ham for 1.7 million pounds, becoming a hit at Upton Park. His behaviour improved so spectacularly that in December 2001 he refrained from scoring against Everton, after noticing their goalkeeper Paul Gerrard was lying on the ground injured! Such a gesture earned him that year's FIFA's fair play award and showed to the world the gentler side of Paolo Di Canio.

The one he again obscured with the Roman salute at the Stadio Olimpico.

Paolo DiCanio

Full Name: Paolo Di Canio
Birthdate: July 9th 1968.
Birthplace: Rome
Height and weight: 179 cm, 72 kg
Role: forward, all positions

Honours:
Italian championship 1996
UEFA Cup 1993
Player of the year in Scotland 1997
FIFA's fair play trophy 2002

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