5 of the most controversial goal celebrations in football

#5 Paolo Di Canio

Paolo Di Canio defended his use of a fascist salute in 2005 following a goal for Lazio

When Nicolas Anelka decided to perform a gesture associated with the Far Right, at least he had the temerity to deny that he was attempting to push any kind of political agenda with his actions.

That wasn’t the case when it came to legendary Italian striker Paolo Di Canio, though. Di Canio managed to offend practically the whole football world in 2005 when he decided to raise his right arm in a salute to the fans of his side Lazio on multiple occasions.

To take things even further, Di Canio defended his use of the salute by outright stating that while he wasn’t a racist, he was a proud fascist. He claimed his use of the salute was simply his way of showing pride in his people, although that was part of the issue; Di Canio had grown up as a fan of Lazio and was involved with their ‘ultra’ fans, and had also defended Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in his autobiography.

Despite Lazio fans largely embracing the gesture, Di Canio was hit with a one-match ban for his behavior and was also fined €7000 – but perhaps he should’ve been thankful that he didn’t find himself in far more trouble – especially when you take into account that in Italy, like in Germany, encouraging fascism is a recognized crime.