Italy bans number 88 from soccer shirts in drive against antisemitism

Soccer players in Italy are banned from wearing the number 88 on their shirts as part of an antisemitism initiative coordinated by Italy’s government and football federation (FIGC).

The country’s Interior and Sport Ministers, as well as the coordinator in combating antisemitism, sign an agreement with FIGC chief Gabriele Gravina to battle the phenomenon in Italian stadiums.

The agreement also provides for matches being interrupted “in the event of antisemitism chanting or behavior.”

The number 88 is a reference to the Nazi Germany slogan “Heil Hitler” as the letter ‘h’ is the eighth letter of the alphabet.

One Lazio fan was pictured wearing a replica top with the name “Hitlerson” and the number 88 on the back during March’s local derby with Roma.

In effetti il numero #88 sarebbe collegato agli #ebrei e usato da alcuni #nazisti in un saluto di tipo iniziatico. Poi un finto tifoso della #Lazio l'ha usato su una maglia. Mi domando..se usassero il 10 o l' 11 che si fa #Piantedosi? pic.twitter.com/PsY47HEAHK

— Ebrei_israele ???????????????? (@ebreieisraele) June 27, 2023

He was a German supporter and one of three people banned for life from attending matches by Lazio.

That match was also marred by mass antisemitic chants by Lazio fans, an offense that led to a suspended one-match stand closure.

A fortnight before, a group of around 100 Lazio fans were filmed proudly calling themselves racist in a chant that insulted Roma supporters by saying their fathers were deported to Nazi concentration camps.

The incident was one of a litany involving Lazio’s hardcore fans, some of the most right-wing in a country where fascist fan groups are a widespread phenomenon.