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| ‘Can He Win?’ Trumps ‘Is He a Fascist?’ | ‘Can He Win?’ Trumps ‘Is He a Fascist?’ |
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| LONDON | LONDON |
| The newest top-flight manager in English soccer — appointed by the American financier who owns the club and given the emergency task of keeping his club, Sunderland, from tumbling out of the Premier League and losing its rich yield in television rights — Paolo di Canio arrived over the weekend with what his critics identified as a repugnant weight of political baggage. | |
| As a player for Lazio in Rome in 2005, di Canio greeted a far-right section of the club’s supporters known as “ultras” with a stiff-armed, flat-palmed fascist salute. In his autobiography in 2000, he acknowledged a fascination with Benito Mussolini, Italy’s wartime Fascist leader, and described him as “basically a very principled individual.” A prominent tattoo on his right arm spells out the word “Dux,” Latin for “leader,” the title favored by Mussolini. | As a player for Lazio in Rome in 2005, di Canio greeted a far-right section of the club’s supporters known as “ultras” with a stiff-armed, flat-palmed fascist salute. In his autobiography in 2000, he acknowledged a fascination with Benito Mussolini, Italy’s wartime Fascist leader, and described him as “basically a very principled individual.” A prominent tattoo on his right arm spells out the word “Dux,” Latin for “leader,” the title favored by Mussolini. |
| Controversy has swirled around di Canio’s appointment since it was announced Saturday. A former British foreign minister, David Miliband, summarily resigned as Sunderland’s vice president. A local coal miners’ group called the appointment “a disgrace and betrayal of all who fought and died in the fight against fascism,” including miners from Sunderland’s last operating colliery, shuttered in the 1990s and replaced by the soccer club’s 49,000-seat stadium, which is officially known as the Stadium of Light, in commemoration of a miner’s lamp. | Controversy has swirled around di Canio’s appointment since it was announced Saturday. A former British foreign minister, David Miliband, summarily resigned as Sunderland’s vice president. A local coal miners’ group called the appointment “a disgrace and betrayal of all who fought and died in the fight against fascism,” including miners from Sunderland’s last operating colliery, shuttered in the 1990s and replaced by the soccer club’s 49,000-seat stadium, which is officially known as the Stadium of Light, in commemoration of a miner’s lamp. |
| Still, di Canio, 44, held his ground Tuesday in a news conference in Sunderland. | Still, di Canio, 44, held his ground Tuesday in a news conference in Sunderland. |
| Confronted with a barrage of questions about his political views, he said the only issue facing him was the challenge of winning enough points in the season’s remaining games to keep Sunderland from the “drop zone,” the bottom three finishers in the 20-club Premier League who are automatically relegated each season to the second-tier Championship division. | Confronted with a barrage of questions about his political views, he said the only issue facing him was the challenge of winning enough points in the season’s remaining games to keep Sunderland from the “drop zone,” the bottom three finishers in the 20-club Premier League who are automatically relegated each season to the second-tier Championship division. |
| “I’m not in the Houses of Parliament, I’m not a political person, I will only talk about football,” he said before hastening away at the behest of a club official. | “I’m not in the Houses of Parliament, I’m not a political person, I will only talk about football,” he said before hastening away at the behest of a club official. |
| But hopes of escaping his past seemed doomed, for now at least, as an array of groups laid plans to protest Sunderland’s first game under di Canio, against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London on Sunday. With soccer’s world and European governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, under pressure to act more aggressively against a wave of racial incidents among players and spectators, the game — and the remainder of Sunderland’s season — seem likely to be played against a backdrop of such protests. | But hopes of escaping his past seemed doomed, for now at least, as an array of groups laid plans to protest Sunderland’s first game under di Canio, against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in London on Sunday. With soccer’s world and European governing bodies, FIFA and UEFA, under pressure to act more aggressively against a wave of racial incidents among players and spectators, the game — and the remainder of Sunderland’s season — seem likely to be played against a backdrop of such protests. |
| Di Canio’s supporters, led by Sunderland officials, seem sure to continue to argue on his behalf, contending that his fascist sympathies have been, in large measure, at least, free of the racial hatred that characterized the fascist outrages of World War II. | Di Canio’s supporters, led by Sunderland officials, seem sure to continue to argue on his behalf, contending that his fascist sympathies have been, in large measure, at least, free of the racial hatred that characterized the fascist outrages of World War II. |
| In a 2005 interview, after being suspended and fined by the Italian soccer league for using the fascist salute at Lazio, di Canio was quoted saying that he was “a fascist, not a racist.” It was a theme he touched on again briefly Tuesday when he urged reporters to talk to two former teammates, both black, who he said were among his closest friends, and to his British manager, Phil Spencer, whom he identified as Jewish. | In a 2005 interview, after being suspended and fined by the Italian soccer league for using the fascist salute at Lazio, di Canio was quoted saying that he was “a fascist, not a racist.” It was a theme he touched on again briefly Tuesday when he urged reporters to talk to two former teammates, both black, who he said were among his closest friends, and to his British manager, Phil Spencer, whom he identified as Jewish. |
| “Speak with black players, call Trevor Sinclair, call Chris Powell, call Phil Spencer, who is a Jewish person, and ask them,” he said. | “Speak with black players, call Trevor Sinclair, call Chris Powell, call Phil Spencer, who is a Jewish person, and ask them,” he said. |
| It was not an approach likely to convince critics like Miliband, foreign secretary in the last Labour government, who announced last week that he was resigning his House of Commons seat, for a district near Sunderland, to take a new post as head of the International Rescue Committee, a New York charity. | It was not an approach likely to convince critics like Miliband, foreign secretary in the last Labour government, who announced last week that he was resigning his House of Commons seat, for a district near Sunderland, to take a new post as head of the International Rescue Committee, a New York charity. |
| Miliband, 47, whose parents were refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe, issued a cursory statement Saturday night within minutes of di Canio’s appointment, announcing he was quitting his $190,000-a-year post on the club’s board. “In the light of the new manager’s past political statements, I think it right to step down,” he said. | Miliband, 47, whose parents were refugees from Nazi-occupied Europe, issued a cursory statement Saturday night within minutes of di Canio’s appointment, announcing he was quitting his $190,000-a-year post on the club’s board. “In the light of the new manager’s past political statements, I think it right to step down,” he said. |
| Amid the welter of criticism that the di Canio appointment drew in British newspapers, there was some mitigation from sportswriters who claimed to have known di Canio personally or to have followed his playing career, which carried him to a succession of big clubs in Italy and Britain, including Lazio, A.C. Milan, West Ham and Glasgow Celtic, before he took up coaching two years at a minor league club in England, Swindon Town. | Amid the welter of criticism that the di Canio appointment drew in British newspapers, there was some mitigation from sportswriters who claimed to have known di Canio personally or to have followed his playing career, which carried him to a succession of big clubs in Italy and Britain, including Lazio, A.C. Milan, West Ham and Glasgow Celtic, before he took up coaching two years at a minor league club in England, Swindon Town. |
| One of these who offered a cautious defense was Guy Adams in The Daily Mail, who said that some pro-Mussolini citations from di Canio’s autobiography had been unfairly lifted to make them seem more damning than they were. He cited one such passage as saying of the Italian leader: “He deceived people. His actions were often vile. But all this was motivated by a higher purpose. He was basically a very principled individual.” | One of these who offered a cautious defense was Guy Adams in The Daily Mail, who said that some pro-Mussolini citations from di Canio’s autobiography had been unfairly lifted to make them seem more damning than they were. He cited one such passage as saying of the Italian leader: “He deceived people. His actions were often vile. But all this was motivated by a higher purpose. He was basically a very principled individual.” |
| Still, di Canio’s appointment as manager seems to be a huge gamble. Relegation to a lower division would cost Sunderland, currently one point above the Premier League drop zone, about $90 million in television revenue next season. The club’s annual earnings last year were about $120 million. | Still, di Canio’s appointment as manager seems to be a huge gamble. Relegation to a lower division would cost Sunderland, currently one point above the Premier League drop zone, about $90 million in television revenue next season. The club’s annual earnings last year were about $120 million. |
| For Sunderland’s owner, Ellis Short, a billionaire head of a Dallas hedge fund and one of a group of Americans who own five Premier League clubs, also including Aston Villa, Arsenal and Liverpool, the prospect of relegation was enough to cost the popular Northern Irishman Martin O’Neill, the manager since 2011, his job after a 1-0 loss to Manchester United on Saturday. | For Sunderland’s owner, Ellis Short, a billionaire head of a Dallas hedge fund and one of a group of Americans who own five Premier League clubs, also including Aston Villa, Arsenal and Liverpool, the prospect of relegation was enough to cost the popular Northern Irishman Martin O’Neill, the manager since 2011, his job after a 1-0 loss to Manchester United on Saturday. |
| Short, 52, who lives in London, made the call appointing di Canio himself, after what other club officials described as an intensive weighing of the new manager’s qualifications and background, including his political leanings. Di Canio said Monday that at first he thought the owner’s call was a prank, given the wide gulf between his 18 months of experience, ending with his sudden walkout in January from his post as manager of Swindon Town, a club that is contending for promotion from League One, two tiers below the Premier League. | Short, 52, who lives in London, made the call appointing di Canio himself, after what other club officials described as an intensive weighing of the new manager’s qualifications and background, including his political leanings. Di Canio said Monday that at first he thought the owner’s call was a prank, given the wide gulf between his 18 months of experience, ending with his sudden walkout in January from his post as manager of Swindon Town, a club that is contending for promotion from League One, two tiers below the Premier League. |
| His tenure at Swindon was marked with controversy, mostly for his managerial style. A former chief executive at Swindon, Nick Watkins, described di Canio’s style as “management by hand grenade” after di Canio abused a referee in front of TV cameras, kicked one of his players on the backside after substituting him in a crucial game, and called his team “donkeys” and “Chihuahuas” after poor performances, only to praise them later, after a relentless regimen of physical training and a raft of changes, as “Rottweilers.” | His tenure at Swindon was marked with controversy, mostly for his managerial style. A former chief executive at Swindon, Nick Watkins, described di Canio’s style as “management by hand grenade” after di Canio abused a referee in front of TV cameras, kicked one of his players on the backside after substituting him in a crucial game, and called his team “donkeys” and “Chihuahuas” after poor performances, only to praise them later, after a relentless regimen of physical training and a raft of changes, as “Rottweilers.” |
| Little of this seemed to trouble Short. In a statement issued by the club Saturday, he said the appointment was made with one goal in mind, Sunderland’s survival in the Premier League. | Little of this seemed to trouble Short. In a statement issued by the club Saturday, he said the appointment was made with one goal in mind, Sunderland’s survival in the Premier League. |
| “Paolo is hugely enthused by the challenge that lies ahead of him,” he said. “He is passionate, driven, and raring to get started. The sole focus of everyone for the next seven games will be to ensure we get enough points to maintain our top-flight status. I think that the chances of that are greatly increased with Paolo joining us.” | “Paolo is hugely enthused by the challenge that lies ahead of him,” he said. “He is passionate, driven, and raring to get started. The sole focus of everyone for the next seven games will be to ensure we get enough points to maintain our top-flight status. I think that the chances of that are greatly increased with Paolo joining us.” |
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction: | |
| Correction: April 3, 2013 | |
An earlier version of this article referred imprecisely the name of the team who hired Paolo di Canio as coach. It is Sunderland, not Sunderland United. |