We seemed to be on the verge of a fairly quiet week as far as football news went. Then Sunderland appoint Paolo Di Canio as their new manager after the sacking of Martin O’Neill and the press remained quiet no more. The furore around Di Canio’s potentially fascist leanings and the mixture of politics and football have contributed to journalists all over the country licking their lips, it seems that a major story has broken.
A character such as Di Canio is always going to garner attention with his movements. And now that he will be gracing the Premier League as a manager for the first time this has only been heightened. Do you remember seeing this kind of uproar when he took over at Swindon Town? No, me neither.
Of course, it’s not just the bright lights of the Premier League that are shining bright on this story. It’s been cast further into the public domain by David Miliband, the Labour MP who resigned from his position as Sunderland’s non-executive vice-chairman in protest of Di Canio’s appointment.
This is the kind of action that takes a story like this from the back pages to the front pages. You can’t help but feel for Sunderland a little bit as they were happy to stick with Miliband through the expenses scandal and it appears that feeling is not being reciprocated, but that’s an issue for a writer with a keener interest in politics than me. I’ll stick to football...
And in football terms it seems that Sunderland could have made a shrewd appointment here. In letting Martin O’Neill go, Sunderland have gotten rid of an extremely experienced manager, a gamble in many ways.
But after watching a limp Sunderland side succumb to Manchester United (who were never out of 1st gear) it was clear that something needed to change. Sunderland were in real danger of slipping quietly out of the Premier League without so much as a whimper. They still may go down but it won’t be without a fight, not on Di Canio’s watch.
Di Canio had an impressive run with Swindon Town, a team who had just been relegated to League Two when he joined. When he left a year and a half later, they found themselves back in League One, and in a healthy league position to boot. Paolo galvanised Swindon after their relegation, he could be the man to do the same to Sunderland. A potentially tired Chelsea will be his first test this Sunday.
In a purely footballing sense Di Canio seems ideal, but then the harshest criticisms that he has had to endure this week haven’t had much to do with his managerial record. No doubt fascism is a tricky subject, one that it is difficult for many people to look past and understandably so.
There have been calls from anti-racism groups, fans groups and just about every other type of group for Di Canio to be removed from his position as Sunderland head coach. I even read a piece on one forum today by a Sunderland fan comparing the Italian to Adolf Hitler. Strong views.
First things first, do not expect Sunderland to back track on their appointment. They would have known what they were getting themselves into with Di Canio, while the reaction has been a little unprecedented it can’t be far off what Sunderland would have expected. Di Canio will stay put.
Di Canio’s past is littered with hints of a fascist upbringing and outlook. He famously performed a fascist salute to Lazio supporters during his second spell at his boyhood club, which he later played down as simply being a sign of unity between him and his people.
“I will always salute as I did because it gives me a sense of belonging to my people ... I saluted my people with what for me is a sign of belonging to a group that holds true values, values of civility against the standardization that this society imposes upon us”
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Paolo Di Canio
He also spoke of his admiration for fascist Italian leader Benito Mussolini in his autobiography and was once reportedly quoted by Italian press that he was “fascist...but not racist”.
A statement released by Sunderland today addressing these concerns does seem to contradict this, as Di Canio not only confirms that he is not a racist and doesn’t affiliate himself with any particular group but also, most categorically, confirms that he does “not support the ideology of fascism”.
A clear message has been sent from Sunderland with this statement: Case Closed, Move On.
I must admit that during my time as a football writer this is the first time that any of my research has included fascism, Benito Mussolini or David Miliband. But that speaks volumes of the unique position that Sunderland’s appointment of Di Canio has put us in.
Whether Di Canio was misquoted in his youth or is currently keeping fascist views private is really impossible to say unless you are the man himself. It’s probably fair to give him the benefit of the doubt until there’s a good reason not to.
Next week for better or worse, the press attention around this issue will have died down. Paolo Di Canio will simply be judged on how his Sunderland team fair away at Chelsea on Sunday. Maybe it’s overly simplistic to say this given the sensitivity of the issue, but perhaps football results are all that a football manager can and should be judged on.