Italian soccer team sanctioned after antisemitic incidents

The club will be likely be forced to play two games in a closed-door stadium.

JANUARY 21, 2018 08:14

SS Lazio players sport t-shirts with Anne Frank's face on them in an effort to stamp out antisemitism at matches (photo credit: MARCO ROSSI/ GETTY IMAGES) — SS Lazio players sport t-shirts with Anne Frank's face on them in an effort to stamp out antisemitism at matches

(photo credit: MARCO ROSSI/ GETTY IMAGES)

Lazio Roma Football club has been handed a two-match closed-stadium sanction and a 50,000 Euro ($61,000) fine after an antisemitic scandal in October in which fans used photos of Anne Frank sporting the jersey of their rival team.

Shortly after the incident, players read aloud passages from Anne Frank's diary before games, which fans boycotted by turning their backs and shouting. Concurrently, the president of Lazio Roma FC was heard referring to Jews as people who "don't count a damn."

A lawyer for the team asked that "Given all the extenuating circumstances, we asked to be spared prosecution."

A decision on the sanction, which is formally a request by Italian prosecutors, is expected early this week.

The rival clubs, Lazio Rome FC and AS Roma, share a stadium.

Shortly after the October incident happened, 13 Lazio fans were banned from the stadium for periods ranging from five to eight years.