MILAN, Italy -- Italian soccer player Paolo Di Canio was suspended for one game on Tuesday for making a fascist salute to fans during a match last weekend.
Di Canio was also fined $11,977 by the Italian Soccer League. The 37-year-old forward will miss Lazio's match at Lecce on Wednesday.
"It was a political sentence, it was an unjust decision," Di Canio told a Rome radio station. "My gesture has nothing to do with political ideologies."
Italian papers ran photos on Dec. 12 showing Di Canio with his arm outstretched as he was being substituted during the second half of Lazio's 2-1 loss to Livorno the previous day.
The arm gesture is associated in Italy with the salute used under the rule of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who also owns Serie A team AC Milan, called Di Canio "an exhibitionist."
That game featured teams whose fans have opposing political allegiances: Lazio fans waved swastika flags while Livorno fans had red Communist flags. Clashes between Livorno fans and police were reported outside the stadium before the game, with one officer slightly injured.
Last January, Di Canio was photographed making the salute after his team's 3-1 victory over AS Roma, a gesture that drew widespread condemnation. He was fined $13,400 by the federation but maintained his gesture had no political significance.
Lazio president Claudio Lotito said his club will appeal the fine.
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