Lazio fined 50,000 euros for anti-Semitic Anne Frank stickers
Italian Football Association tribunal decides to fine Lazio €50,000 for its 'objective' responsibility over anti-Semitic stickers its supporters distributed in October showing Anne Frank wearing cross-town rivals AS Roma's kit; 13 fans who disseminated the stickers banned from sporting events; FA fines Lazio despite noting it had done everything in its power to prevent discriminatory material being introduced in the stadium.
The Italian Football Association's federal tribunal has fined the Lazio football team 50,000 euros ($62,090), saying it was "objectively" responsible for the distribution by fans of anti-Semitic stickers showing Holocaust victim Anne Frank wearing the jersey of city rivals AS Roma.
The stickers were found in their stadium, Rome's Olympic Stadium, which they share with AS Roma, during a match against Cagliari in October.
Following the incident, Italian soccer authorities ordered stadiums to hold a minute of silence at their next matches while a passage from Anne Frank's diary is read out.
Investigations showed that 13 Lazio supporters were found guilty of applying the stickers. The 13 have been banned from going to sports events.
Anne Frank was born in Germany but her family fled to the Netherlands to escape the Nazi takeover. They lived in hidden rooms in Amsterdam before they were discovered by German occupiers and deported to concentration camps.
She died in the Bergen-Belsen camp aged 15 and her diary recounting the family's time in hiding became a centerpiece of Holocaust literature.
Lazio supporters are infamous for calling out racist and anti-Semitic chants during games, and have been previously charged in court for doing so.
The tribunal said Lazio did everything in its power to prevent discriminatory material being introduced in the stadium, noting the stickers were too small to be detected.
However, Lazio was still held "objectively" responsible for the incident as the supporters' representative, the Italian FA said on Thursday.
The tribunal did, however, opt out of asking Lazio to play two matches behind closed doors as the Italian FA prosecutor requested, as this would also punish fans who did not play a part in what happened.
