Soccer star Paolo Di Canio, captain of Roman SS Lazio, celebrated his goal in last Thursday's match against rivals AS Roma by making a stiff right-arm salute to his fans.
"I am a professional footballer and my celebrations had nothing to do with political behavior of any kind," Di Canio has commented. But in his autobiography he praises Benito Mussolini as a "basically a very principled, ethical individual".
His action has been widely condemned. Except by Benito's grand daughter, Alessandra Mussolini: "How nice that Roman salute was. It delighted me so much, I shall write him a thank-you note," she said. The former fascist dictator was a Lazio fan too.
