Lazio’s ‘Ultra’ fans have warned women to stay away from the front 10 rows at the Stadio Olimpico because it is their “sacred space”, triggering an unwelcome sexism row at the Italian club after disgraceful flyers were distributed at their Serie A match on Saturday.
The 2-1 defeat against Napoli was compounded by the astonishing messages that were distributed by the so-called ‘Ultras’ – die-hard fans of the club – who believe that women should no longer be allowed to attend games at the stadium.
The flyers read: "The Curva Nord represents for us a sacred space, an environment with an unwritten code to be respected. The first few rows, as always, have been experienced like the trenches. In the trenches, we do not allow women, wives and girlfriends, so we invite them to position themselves from the 10th row back.
"Those who choose the stadium as an alternative to a carefree and romantic day in (Rome's) Villa Borghese (gardens), should go to other sections."
The incident is an embarrassing episode for the club as they raised the curtain on the new season, and a spokesman insisted that this view was not one that they shared.
"It is not the position of the club, we are against any discrimination,” Arturo Diaconale said.
"Moreover, there is an enormous number of Lazio fans, this instead is an initiative from a few fans. We can't always intervene to avoid politically incorrect displays like this."
Some Lazio fans caused outrage last season when they littered the Stadio Olimpico in Rome with images of Anne Frank — the young diarist who died in the Holocaust — wearing a jersey of city rival Roma. Lazio was fined €50,000 by the Italian football federation because of the anti-Semitism displayed by the team's fans.
It was the latest in a series of racist and anti-Semitic incidents, with Lazio previously having its stadium fully or partly closed for European and domestic matches as punishment.
Napoli fans meanwhile used the same match to unveil a banner that read ‘Genova 14.8.2018’ in tribute to the victims of the Genoa bridge collapse, which has killed at least 43 people when a motorway passage fell during extreme weather last week.
