For years and years, Lazio have had a bad reputation all around Europe, as behaviour from certain aspects of their fanbase has seemed, at the very least, far-right.
This isn’t new for any football fan, and it’s something that will have crossed the minds of many Celtic supporters when they were drawn in the Champions League’s Group E along with the Serie A side.
Especially given the Celtic fanbase has a left-wing reputation.
Well, it now seems that some at Lazio are worried about that reputation, and on Globalist, there’s an open letter to Celtic fans to try and provide a different story.
The text is directed to Celtic fans and there’s even an English version of it. There, they explain their own version of their club’s history, swearing they had nothing to do with Benito Mussolini or his regime in Italy.
“Lazio’s DNA has nothing to do with fascism or nazism. History says so. And we are frankly fed up with being identified as supporters of an ideology responsible for barbarity and defeated by history. Società Sportiva Lazio has also repeatedly and firmly taken a stand against this stereotype and firmly condemned every episode of intolerance or racism,” says the letter.
“Therefore, wishing for a different outcome to the match that will see us together as protagonists, I believe it would be fairer and more beautiful to do it together, civilly and sportingly. In the name of the ideals of respect that unite us and not of what is attributed to a fanbase that sees no reason for this misrepresentation.”
The story, which starts with ‘We’re not fascists’, even mentions their ‘dear friends, Celtic fans’, making it clear they’d like to have a light mood in this Champions League clash. They highlight there’s a ‘sporting rivalry’ which shall continue, but there should be nothing more than that.
