Lazio fans display anti-Irish banner during Champions League game with Celtic
Football

Lazio fans display anti-Irish banner during Champions League game with Celtic

ITALIAN football club Lazio could find themselves in hot water with UEFA after some of the club's fans displayed an anti-Irish banner in their match against Celtic.

The incident occurred during the Champions League Group E clash between the sides at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on Tuesday.

During the match, the Italian club's ultras unfurled a banner paraphrasing the infamous Famine Song, which has previously been ruled racist by judges in Scotland.

The banner was displayed during the UEFA Champions League match at Lazio’s Stadio Olimpico in Rome (Image: Silvia Lore/Getty Images)

The banner read: "The famine is over, go home f****** potato eaters."

The Great Famine from 1845 to 1952 was caused by blight on potato crops and compounded by a lack of aid from the British Government and its failure to ban exports due to its laissez-faire economics.

The famine resulted in the death of around 1m people, with a similar number emigrating, causing the country's population to drop by approximately 25 per cent.

Rising tensions

Other banners displayed outside the Italian club's ground on Tuesday were also directed at Celtic fans.

One, referencing the Celtic Boys Club scandal, read 'Celtic pedophile club', while another stated 'Did the Fenian b******* take shower today?'.

The displays follow rising tensions between the two clubs' fans, with Celtic having been fined by UEFA for displaying a 'provocative message of an offensive nature' when the sides met in Glasgow earlier this season.

A banner displayed during the meeting between the sides in Glasgow depicted Benito Mussolini being hung upside-down (Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images)

A banner reading 'Antifascist Glasgow Celtic' was unveiled, featuring an image of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini being hung upside-down alongside the words 'Follow your leader'.

The Glasgow club was also fined by UEFA after a similar banner was displayed at Celtic Park during the October 2019 Europa League meeting between the sides.

Lazio won Tuesday night's game 2-0 thanks to two late Ciro Immobile goals to ensure their progress to the last-16 of the competition.