PREDAPPIO, ITALY ¨C Behind the counter, amid the Mussolini clocks, swastika badges, fascist recipe books and busts of Hitler, Benizzi Ferrini has hung a T-shirt featuring the face of Paolo Di Canio.
¡°When Paolo gave his salute on the pitch it was a gesture from the heart, and the way he is being treated now in England is not correct,¡± said Ferrini, a lifelong fascist, who runs one of the string of memorabilia shops that line the main street of Predappio, Benito Mussolini¡¯s birthplace. When Di Canio visited the store a few years back on a trip to the town, Ferrini wanted to show his respect for the soccer player. ¡°I presented him with a bust of Mussolini,¡± he recalls fondly.
As Di Canio battles on as Sunderland¡¯s new manager despite the furor over his Mussolini tattoo and notorious fascist salute to fans when he played for the Rome team Lazio, Predappio is a good place to start understanding what fascism means to Italy today, and why not all Italians are getting too riled by a stiff-arm saluting soccer player.
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