(Reuters) – Juve Stabia have rejected media reports their fans used a fascist-style salute in celebration of a goal scored by the great-grandson of Italy’s wartime fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Romano Floriani Mussolini, the son of politician Alessandra Mussolini, netted the winner as Juve Stabia beat visiting Cesena 1-0 in Italy’s second tier Serie B on Saturday.
The stadium announcer shouted the player’s first name, and the home crowd responded each time with loud chants of his surname, raising their right arms each time in celebration.
Italian and international media reported that the supporters had used the stiff-armed fascist salute used by followers of Mussolini.
“We do not accept exploitation for a golden boy like Romano Floriani Mussolini and the same thing goes for our fans who have cheered as they have always done in the past with any other athlete,” Juve Stabia said in a statement on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes, editing by Ed Osmond)
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