It is a pity that my former colleague Simon Kuper wastes most of his commentary – Football’s little problem on the right-wing’ on the Di Canio saga in today’s FT coverage on the football manager’s political sympathies and the national culture which nourished them. That Di Canio is Italian, a one-time player of one of Italy’s most fascist clubs, and a self-confessed admirer of Mussolini is well tread ground. Far more interesting in my view are the inclinations of certain representatives of English football within their national culture, and the extent to which the appointment of Di Canio to manage a Premier division club is something that should or should not be endorsed.
On British culture, Kuper’s commentary has only this to say:“In Britain, politicians subscribe to two basic propositions: fascism and racism are terrible; and immigration is terrible…opposing fascism is a no-lose proposition, like opposing cannibalism.” And concludes, with reference to Di Canio’s presence in the UK: “Thankfully this fascist sympathiser is just a harmless football manager rather than, say, a leading politician in a troubled European country.”
Kuper is, in my view well off the mark in his generalizations, as when he states that “In the UK, opposing fascism is a no-lose proposition, like opposing cannibalism.” One only needs to have followed the admirable research by the UK based NGO and magazine Searchlight over the last decades to be aware of the the insidious infiltration of fascist views and actions in British post-war society,and the risks that those exposing them have taken with their own personal safety.
Britain has its BNP and its National Fronts, and other seemingly more moderate right wing parties that barely hide their potential for prejudice behind their nationalist anti-immigration views.My own experience of watching football matches across borders is that some English fans, players, and fans have a capacity for racist attitudes and thuggish behavior of no minor order within the general European landscape, with some groups of traveling English fans behaving in a particularly disgraceful manner when visiting foreign territory. The memory lingers of a group of Manchester United fans destroying one of my favourite bars in Barcelona.
But look closer home. Only last week a friend of mine who happens to be a Chelsea fan reminded me that the hissing sound is periodically distributed at White Hart Lane by visiting fans, not least those supportive of his own club, as a provocation of Spurs fans, many of whom are Jewish.
Meanwhile what are we to make of continuing statements of support for Di Canio from British football personalities like John Terry and Harry Redknapp and their influence on the thousands of English fans who look up to them? The answer must be that Di Canio may have been a fascist in Italy, but in good old England, he becomes a harmless manager. Or not.
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