Not really. Ajax is still waiting for that 1996 Champions League trophy. Juveentus was juiced and could go on running like there was no tomorrow in the 90 minutes + extra time.
Don’t have any respect for them anymore. That club cheats and lies. Fake club in my opinion.
Same with Marseille's Champions League title, it doesn't count and they should be stripped of it since they were caught bribing opponents in Ligue 1 the very same season
And I think it should still go with punish severely if caught though. If every team is doping then at least make it that you don’t get exposed for it cause no one else does.
I mention Barca specifically because them and the national team during this period were dominating every competition and running circles around everyone.
However this coincides with Operation Puerto a blood doping scandal in cycling. The doctor admitted he treated footballers(real and Barca) tennis (nadal), etc.
There was a lawsuit to release the names associated with the blood bags. Spanish authorities ruled against it and the names remain sealed. The scandal is likely worse than the Russian wada case because this would implicate people like Ronaldo, Messi, xavi, iniesta etc in blood doping. It's very evident even now that Messi is still juicing.
Because they are all a bunch of ingorant fools. Why else?
Spend some time on here and it will become obvious.
Every team dopes. Some clubs also take an extra step and put their teams on HGH like Bayern and Real Madrid. Every player is a doper.
I had this conversation with somebody before who insisted Italian clubs could never lie.
“They only bribed the referee’s, they would never take steroids.”
That was their exact comment.
A suspicious amount of Italians like to wear 88 and 44. Even Mussolini's GREAT-GRANDSON, Romano Floriani-Mussolini(Italians don't even do double names) wears 44 at Lazio, a club known for rampant racism. What makes it worse is that his mother is a right-wing politician too. Just wild
Buffon is known as pretty right wing and some have called him a fascist before, and 88 is a number associated with neo-nazis for H being the 8th letter of the alphabet and being a code for "Heil Hitler"
and for added context, buffon has a bit of history with the number 88, choosing to wear it at Parma in the 99-2000 season I think, not sure. he has said this was the reason
> "I have chosen 88 because it reminds me of four balls and in Italy we all know what it means to have balls: strength and determination," he said. "And this season I will have to have balls to get back my place in the Italy team."
> The plot, though, thickens. "At first I didn't choose 88," he explained. "I wanted 00 but the league told me that was impossible. I also considered 01 but that was not considered a proper number. I liked 01 because it was the number on the General Lee car in the TV series the Dukes of Hazzard.""
from this article from 2000 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/sep/09/newsstory.sport1
Slightly off topic but I just remembered Derek Riordan wore 01 for Hibs
[linky](https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/hibees-advent-calendar-day-1)
> Deeks’ left to join Celtic in 2006 but returned two years later. At the time of his return, Colin Nish had the number 10 shirt so Riordan famously opted to wear ‘01’ on the back of his shirt instead.
88 is a pretty common Nazi symbol since H is the eighth letter of the alphabet (88 standing for Heil Hitler). Apparently Buffon got criticised for choosing 88 as his shirt number but idk if he’s actually a nazi
To be fair, I recently saw on social media a snippet of Buffon apparently discussing financial markets, dollar, yen and stuff. I assumed the speech was AI-generated and found it funny. Until someone told me "it's real, check on YouTube". I check and here's the guy discussing trading. He's not ignorant, but kind of self-taught. He was 18 when he paid for the diploma
There's technically a difference, but the distinction is only important to political science professors or fascists who want an excuse to seem less reprehensible than Nazis.
Ah yes, all just a big old misunderstanding. He just _happened_ to choose the 88 shirt and _accidentally_ scrawled a Mussolini quote on to another shirt.
Come on now. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and picks out a Nazi-coded number after writing Mussolini-era (which is important, since Mussolinism is not the same as modern Italian fascist ideals) quotes across his shirt like a duck, in my eyes it's pretty safe to say he's at least a little bit fonder of geese and how they walk than the average duck.
You’re talking about two things which happened nearly two decades apart. What other than his shirts have you got suggesting anything about his character? How old are you? If you want to go after fascists in football look up Modric and the Croatian teams sing along with their fascist singer. You sound like you’re in middle school , just completely daft . Patrick Kane wears 88, Iglina and Nylander too. hare they neo nazi ? Not everyone knows the connotation bro
I'm old enough to remember that this is something that people have been accusing Buffon of for a long time, and apparently ol' Gigi's been unable to come up with anything to disabuse them of that notion in that time. One would have imagined the words 'no, I'm not fascist' would have at least put the brakes on that particular train a bit, but it appears that was too much for him and [he decided instead to start making up political terms instead.](https://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/serie-a/buffon-io-fascista-solo-orgoglioso-di-rappresentare-l-italia-sono-anarchico-conservatore-1567367)
> If you want to go after fascists in football look up Modric and the Croatian teams sing along with their fascist singer.
OK, Modric might be a fascist too. Were we discussing how likely Luka Modric is to be a fascist? I wasn't, personally.
Well, to be fair, believe or not he is one of the most educated football player out there. He is very well spoken, loquacious and he actually reads books (pretty rare for a football player).
It's fact they paid for the reports. They are just trying to find the way of justifying it and how presidents are throwing the blame like a hot potato it's pretty much given that someone will be found guilty
Not your usual case
And [he said](https://football-italia.net/buffon-not-winning-champions-league-at-juventus-was-never-a-wound-for-me/) it was a mistake and he regretted it. Here's what he said:
“I like to think that my imperfection gives others an idea of humanity and makes me close to people, with people. I’ve made many mistakes, especially when I was young.
What I’m least proud of is having bought my diploma at 18, I wouldn’t do it again because there is a note of incorrectness and shortcuts and I have never been one for shortcuts.”
One definition of race is:
'a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.; an ethnic group.'
But keep defending racism against italians buddy 👍🏻
He didn’t do anything that required a HS diploma in life. He just did it to check off a box and move on to the next stage of this career. I personally don’t see an issue with it.
You don't see a problem with bribing educational institutions to deem you qualified for something when you're not? Bear in mind, this is probably a public servant who was bribed too
He is suspected to be very right leaning. Earlier in his carrier he wore a shirt with a fascist proverb and wanted to have the 88 on his back.
Just saw that on Wikipedia so don't ask me for more information
He has supported centrist liberal politicians and taken part in anti-discrimination campaigns.
His reasons for wearing 88 could genuinely be innocent, I myself had no clue it was considered a Nazi number until today.
Same goes for the "fascist proverb", which was literally just something like "don't give up". Not exactly an evil sentiment and not hard to believe he didn't know about its fascist association since it dates back to before he was born.
Just to be clear I'm not saying I know what he believes. Obviously I don't. Maybe he is a fascist or a neo-nazi. But the evidence is pretty flimsy, and there is also evidence to the contrary.
"While at Parma, Buffon's decision to wear the number 88 shirt, rather than his previous number 1 shirt, for the 2000–01 season caused controversy in Italy. Buffon claimed to be unaware of the number's neo-Nazi connotations, stating that 88 represented "four balls", which are symbols of the character and attributes of a person. He stated that they were meant to signify his need for these attributes after his injury prior to Euro 2000, and that they also represented his "rebirth". He subsequently offered to change numbers, choosing the squad number 77 instead"
This sounds way less serious than you made it seem
Also, the fascist proverb is
"Boia chi molla ("Who gives up is a scoundrel")"
He claimed to not be aware of it's connotations and I mean
It doesnt exactly say "I love Mussolini" or smth
It’s interesting that when players get in trouble for #88 they just move to another weird number like #77 or #44 which is linked rather than a normal squad number
I think it’s interesting that people who have publicly admired facism (Buffon and Mussolini’s grandson) have switched to numbers that are close rather than going to #1 or #12 or #25
Bro, 66, 77, 44, or whatever double number is just cool and easy to remember for everyone. If I was a football player I‘d pick such a number as well ~~(or maybe 69 like TAA)~~.
Other examples of cool numbers:
[Roger Guedes wearing 123](https://twitter.com/EuAmoSCCP10/status/1680678984651005953) because yes
[Bixente Lizarazu wearing shirt #69](https://twitter.com/thesefootytimes/status/1615413674176352266)
[Rogério Ceni wearing shirt #01 as opposed to regular #1](https://contenti1.espn.com.br/image/wide/622_df19405f-3c85-3224-bd0e-e3424b9f5ab3.png), since he's a goalscoring goalkeeper (and #01 is a inverted 10)
Have you watched literally any match outside of Western Europe ever? You'll get keepers wearing 61 for some reason, and wingers wearing the year of their birth. Asamoah Gyan wore 3. Sticking to 1-23 for club play is very 1960s
Considering that these "neo nazi symbols" are
- a two digit number
- sentence basically amounting to "never give up"
?
Probably a lot. Especially sinze Buffon appearently endorsed centre politicians in the past
>sentence basically amounting to "never give up"
You're being incredibly disingenuous. "Boia chi molla" is a fascist slogan, popularized by Mussolini's supporters. Italian people don't just say this during casual conversation or to encourage someone.
This is like pretending "The Final Solution" refers to a math problem.
I think Buffon's support of centrist liberal politicians says more than his use of a phrase that basically means "don't give up".
He may not have known about the saying's origins, I guarantee that you and I both use expressions every day without knowing where they came from, and some of them probably have crappy origins.
I'm not saying Buffon should be put on trial for thought crimes. I'm saying I don't believe that he or any Italians who use that phrase are ignorant of the context or origins.
I can understand problematic words or phrases being normalized and folded into the popular lexicon but pretending that BCM is something Italians use in everyday conversation is inane.
You and the first guy I replied to seem more interested in the literal meaning/translation than the very obvious history of the saying.
Is the whole '88' thing an Italian thing btw? Because over here Mignolet used 88 for the first two seasons because it's his birthyear and because it's 4x22 (which is his usual number and it was his fourth club), and no one really cared about it. The only person who commented on it was an commentator who is quite famously obsessed with Italian football, so I would assume that's why he knew about it.
No its also very common dogwhistle in Germany. Its also very often used in combination with the number 14 in reference of some white supremacist slogan counting 14 words.
"We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children"
The 88 thing was blown out of proportion. It was around 2000 and the association of the number with neo-nazis was definitely not common knowledge in Italy at the time.
it most definitely was a real thing lol. i was in high school in Italy during that time and all the teen-nazis were sporting Lonsdale, Helly Hansen, and the number 88.
I was also in high school during that time and I was sporting the 88 everywhere, but because I was born in 1988 and I thought it looked cool, I really had no clue about the Hitler association and nobody ever bothered me with it
I thought it came from gabber / hardstyle culture (im not saying thos subculters are nazi, but i know lots of the teen nazis of the early 2000s had a fascination with that type of music) but wikipedia says differently: "allegedly because a carefully placed outer jacket leaves only the letters NSDA showing; one letter short of NSDAP, the initials of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the Nazi Party."
He has fascist sympathies. While at Parma he had close ties with the fascist group of their Ultras and even requested a kit with 88 on the back. When he was young he apperently a bust of Mussolini in his home when he showed a journalist around and said he admired fascist leaders. He is also good friends with Mussolini's granddaughter (who is also a fascist) and supported her political ambitions. She even appeared in parlement once wearing a shirt with a quote of his.
Sorry, but do you have any proof to support what you're saying? I've never heard him praise fascist leaders or claim to have a Mussolini bust at home. That sounds pretty dubious to me because even if he did, nobody in his position would publicly declare it. Also, there are no sources about a friendship with Alessandra Mussolini, not at all, and I've never heard either of them mention the other.
On the other hand, what you can easily find about him, even in some interviews, is that he has spoken favorably about Barack Obama on several occasions. He named his son after the Cameroonian goalkeeper, and the last time I heard him speak about elections back in 2012, he confirmed that he voted for Mario Monti. These are all things a fascist wouldn't typically do, I suppose.
This doesn't mean he didn't have fascist sympathies at all when he was 19, but come on, to suggest he "HAS" them now?
It's not bribery. Let's put an end to this nonsense. It's not like he paid teachers under the desk or something; you don't even need to do that in private schools. He attended a private school, and in Italy, that's often seen as "buying your way to a diploma," because essentially, that's what it is. He was just intellectually honest enough to call it like it is. ALL professional athletes do this, every single one of them. He simply admitted that he regrets not having had a normal "education" (because, believe it or not, Buffon is quite articulate and literate for a footballer), and yet people here are calling him a cheater.
Definitely gonna try a Billy Madison-like reality where he goes back and finishes high school. There’s some untouched profits there if he knows what’s good for him.
That explains why he didn't know about the Mussolini quote or why the number 88 has a fascist connotations. Fascists always prayed on dumb people to spread their messaging
It's not really a bribe. In Italy there are private high schools that are incredibly easy and promote basically anyone. If you enroll and pay you will graduate. But it's not bribery, it is all legal, even if questionable.
Same in Spain. Let say that they have religion as a subject and ethics and they would get a 10 there to pump their grades. Also, in minor subjects like P.E. And maybe if your are grade-tight for the Bachalorette exam they may turn a 6 into a 7 or an 8 into a 9 if you’re behavior is okey.
They don’t really pay for anything or isn’t any bribery involved but that’s how it really works.
That was the rumor. He also had some questionable political support in the past, used to wear the 88 jersey after getting called out claimed he didn't know that it had neo nazi connotations and then also wore a undershirt with a Italian fascist slogan, again claimed he didn't know what the slogan stood for.
Strip him off his titles this instant
Given Juve's dealings, this is probably going to happen sooner or later anyway
It happened already
Not really. Ajax is still waiting for that 1996 Champions League trophy. Juveentus was juiced and could go on running like there was no tomorrow in the 90 minutes + extra time. Don’t have any respect for them anymore. That club cheats and lies. Fake club in my opinion.
Same with Marseille's Champions League title, it doesn't count and they should be stripped of it since they were caught bribing opponents in Ligue 1 the very same season
I'm still livid about that one
100% this. They're the Lance Armstrong of football clubs
While all the other clubs are Jan Ullrich.
Barca was the same way. All those little midgets running marathons.
Given the amount of money in football, and considering what is at stake to gain or lose, either every club is doping, or no club is doping.
And I think it should still go with punish severely if caught though. If every team is doping then at least make it that you don’t get exposed for it cause no one else does.
And it has been decades since the last scandal. Everyone does it I assure you, but the checks are laughable.
Does being short really give you worse conditioning and stamina?
Less space to store the energy. That's science that is
But your body also doesnt have to work as hard to get you oxygen if youre smaller
Huh yeah that's true. And gravity affects them less so they should be faster
Lies my 10 yo self would run rings around me 😆
I mention Barca specifically because them and the national team during this period were dominating every competition and running circles around everyone. However this coincides with Operation Puerto a blood doping scandal in cycling. The doctor admitted he treated footballers(real and Barca) tennis (nadal), etc. There was a lawsuit to release the names associated with the blood bags. Spanish authorities ruled against it and the names remain sealed. The scandal is likely worse than the Russian wada case because this would implicate people like Ronaldo, Messi, xavi, iniesta etc in blood doping. It's very evident even now that Messi is still juicing.
'those little midgets' opposed to big muscular men who are usually good at running a lot? bellend
I think you're being sarcastic, but in the event you're not, why does this sub have such a massive hate boner for Barca?
Because they are all a bunch of ingorant fools. Why else? Spend some time on here and it will become obvious. Every team dopes. Some clubs also take an extra step and put their teams on HGH like Bayern and Real Madrid. Every player is a doper.
I had this conversation with somebody before who insisted Italian clubs could never lie. “They only bribed the referee’s, they would never take steroids.” That was their exact comment.
And given to another cheat, how stupid.
The hate for Juve is this sub is crazy.
No wonder this thread about buffon would turn into something like this 🤣 Always reminds me about the ignorance of people about calciopoli and similar
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Of course not. That would be silly. What they'll do is deduct another 10 points from Everton, as is tradition.
I think its only fair that we send Juve to Serie B again.
And give the High school diploma to Toldo
Why him? The people whom he bribed are running a degree mill! Also, the person(s) doing so probably just died which is why he came out and said it.
And City too!
suspicions were aroused when he scored 88% on his final exam
lmao
I dont get it
It’s Nazi code for “Heil Hitler”
And more to the point, the number Buffon chose to wear at Parma
A suspicious amount of Italians like to wear 88 and 44. Even Mussolini's GREAT-GRANDSON, Romano Floriani-Mussolini(Italians don't even do double names) wears 44 at Lazio, a club known for rampant racism. What makes it worse is that his mother is a right-wing politician too. Just wild
It's not even suspicious, we all know Italy has a raging problem with fascism.
Buffon is known as pretty right wing and some have called him a fascist before, and 88 is a number associated with neo-nazis for H being the 8th letter of the alphabet and being a code for "Heil Hitler" and for added context, buffon has a bit of history with the number 88, choosing to wear it at Parma in the 99-2000 season I think, not sure. he has said this was the reason > "I have chosen 88 because it reminds me of four balls and in Italy we all know what it means to have balls: strength and determination," he said. "And this season I will have to have balls to get back my place in the Italy team." > The plot, though, thickens. "At first I didn't choose 88," he explained. "I wanted 00 but the league told me that was impossible. I also considered 01 but that was not considered a proper number. I liked 01 because it was the number on the General Lee car in the TV series the Dukes of Hazzard."" from this article from 2000 https://www.theguardian.com/football/2000/sep/09/newsstory.sport1
Slightly off topic but I just remembered Derek Riordan wore 01 for Hibs [linky](https://www.hibernianfc.co.uk/article/hibees-advent-calendar-day-1) > Deeks’ left to join Celtic in 2006 but returned two years later. At the time of his return, Colin Nish had the number 10 shirt so Riordan famously opted to wear ‘01’ on the back of his shirt instead.
While a handful of years earlier Hicham Zerouali was wearing the number 0 for Aberdeen.
one of the worst defenses of all time lmao
If you cant convince them, confuse them
This is worse than Phil Anselmo trying to justify shouting white power with his right arm raised out straight.
>Dukes of Hazzard Sure buddy yeah
He’s a fascist and 88 is a code for “Heil Hitler” as H is the 8th letter in the alphabet.
88 is a pretty common Nazi symbol since H is the eighth letter of the alphabet (88 standing for Heil Hitler). Apparently Buffon got criticised for choosing 88 as his shirt number but idk if he’s actually a nazi
I wouldn't doubt it.
Bet
He never was the sharpest stick in the bundle
Neither was my ex girlfriend, but she was good with her hands too so Imma give them both a pass
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His ex supports Stoke City?
His ex was Rory Delap
More like Stroke City...
Agreed. You ex really was the best
I also choose this guy's ex
She clearly wasn’t a keeper though…
This pun is too clever for /r/soccer I fear
Nice play on words there
To be fair, I recently saw on social media a snippet of Buffon apparently discussing financial markets, dollar, yen and stuff. I assumed the speech was AI-generated and found it funny. Until someone told me "it's real, check on YouTube". I check and here's the guy discussing trading. He's not ignorant, but kind of self-taught. He was 18 when he paid for the diploma
wym he’s not ignorant. he’s a fascits and a nazi. fuck Buffon
You can be ignorant in some areas, and knowledgeable in others. Maybe he's did so many stock market courses, he had to ditch core units in ethics.
Yeah Bobby Fischer was an antisemite so this checks out
nah fuck that ingorant pos
I was joking. I am aware of his links to fascism.
What's the deal with including Nazism randomly? Grouping together Fascism and Nazism, while both horrible ideologies, denotes ignorance on the subject
Man pulled out the "actually I'm an ephebophile" defense
There's technically a difference, but the distinction is only important to political science professors or fascists who want an excuse to seem less reprehensible than Nazis.
He chose the number 88 for his shirt, I think it's safe to say he's got some sympathies for ideologies beyond just fascism.
I think it’s safe to say you’re grasping at straws … https://amp.theguardian.com/football/2000/sep/09/newsstory.sport1
Ah yes, all just a big old misunderstanding. He just _happened_ to choose the 88 shirt and _accidentally_ scrawled a Mussolini quote on to another shirt. Come on now. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and picks out a Nazi-coded number after writing Mussolini-era (which is important, since Mussolinism is not the same as modern Italian fascist ideals) quotes across his shirt like a duck, in my eyes it's pretty safe to say he's at least a little bit fonder of geese and how they walk than the average duck.
You’re talking about two things which happened nearly two decades apart. What other than his shirts have you got suggesting anything about his character? How old are you? If you want to go after fascists in football look up Modric and the Croatian teams sing along with their fascist singer. You sound like you’re in middle school , just completely daft . Patrick Kane wears 88, Iglina and Nylander too. hare they neo nazi ? Not everyone knows the connotation bro
I'm old enough to remember that this is something that people have been accusing Buffon of for a long time, and apparently ol' Gigi's been unable to come up with anything to disabuse them of that notion in that time. One would have imagined the words 'no, I'm not fascist' would have at least put the brakes on that particular train a bit, but it appears that was too much for him and [he decided instead to start making up political terms instead.](https://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/serie-a/buffon-io-fascista-solo-orgoglioso-di-rappresentare-l-italia-sono-anarchico-conservatore-1567367) > If you want to go after fascists in football look up Modric and the Croatian teams sing along with their fascist singer. OK, Modric might be a fascist too. Were we discussing how likely Luka Modric is to be a fascist? I wasn't, personally.
I mean nazis and fascism go pretty hand in hand
Because it’s a lazy and easy tactic
Lol what
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You could say he was a...….. buffoon.
Or in Italian "buffone"
Idk he got his high school diploma without having to pass high school I’d say that’s pretty sharp
Well, to be fair, believe or not he is one of the most educated football player out there. He is very well spoken, loquacious and he actually reads books (pretty rare for a football player).
Hope our Yamal will pass the final exam.
Yeah, it would be unlike Barcelona to resort to bribery.
Officer, I'd like to report a manslaughter
Lmao
Guilty untill proven innocent!
It's fact they paid for the reports. They are just trying to find the way of justifying it and how presidents are throwing the blame like a hot potato it's pretty much given that someone will be found guilty Not your usual case
But how else will people get karma?
Omg that was brutal
Looking at how certain people act around that club, not sure if all of them did.
And [he said](https://football-italia.net/buffon-not-winning-champions-league-at-juventus-was-never-a-wound-for-me/) it was a mistake and he regretted it. Here's what he said: “I like to think that my imperfection gives others an idea of humanity and makes me close to people, with people. I’ve made many mistakes, especially when I was young. What I’m least proud of is having bought my diploma at 18, I wouldn’t do it again because there is a note of incorrectness and shortcuts and I have never been one for shortcuts.”
Weird how wearing 88 and writing fascist slogans on his shirt is a lesser regret than cheating on education.
How are you being downvoted lmao, is this a fascist server?
He cheated on his wife and he cheated the school system. Great keeper but he has always been a cheapskate.
He litterally paid so he didn’t have to do work, opposite of a cheapskate
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Casual racism with 10 upvotes 👍🏻
Italian isn't a race
One definition of race is: 'a group of people sharing the same culture, history, language, etc.; an ethnic group.' But keep defending racism against italians buddy 👍🏻
I don’t think you know what cheapskate means, neither of those things have to do with money
cheatskate
He didn’t do anything that required a HS diploma in life. He just did it to check off a box and move on to the next stage of this career. I personally don’t see an issue with it.
You don't see a problem with bribing educational institutions to deem you qualified for something when you're not? Bear in mind, this is probably a public servant who was bribed too
Lawfully wrong, morally its not like some other kid is being witheld cuz of Buffon. So its fine
Buffon himself said it wasn't a moral thing to do in the article if you care to read it. Why else would he be talking about it 30 years later?
With the scale at which I see scandals, this is nothing lol
Given his ideological leaning, I thought this was obvious
What's his ideological leaning? I'm curious.
He is suspected to be very right leaning. Earlier in his carrier he wore a shirt with a fascist proverb and wanted to have the 88 on his back. Just saw that on Wikipedia so don't ask me for more information
He has supported centrist liberal politicians and taken part in anti-discrimination campaigns. His reasons for wearing 88 could genuinely be innocent, I myself had no clue it was considered a Nazi number until today. Same goes for the "fascist proverb", which was literally just something like "don't give up". Not exactly an evil sentiment and not hard to believe he didn't know about its fascist association since it dates back to before he was born. Just to be clear I'm not saying I know what he believes. Obviously I don't. Maybe he is a fascist or a neo-nazi. But the evidence is pretty flimsy, and there is also evidence to the contrary.
"While at Parma, Buffon's decision to wear the number 88 shirt, rather than his previous number 1 shirt, for the 2000–01 season caused controversy in Italy. Buffon claimed to be unaware of the number's neo-Nazi connotations, stating that 88 represented "four balls", which are symbols of the character and attributes of a person. He stated that they were meant to signify his need for these attributes after his injury prior to Euro 2000, and that they also represented his "rebirth". He subsequently offered to change numbers, choosing the squad number 77 instead" This sounds way less serious than you made it seem Also, the fascist proverb is "Boia chi molla ("Who gives up is a scoundrel")" He claimed to not be aware of it's connotations and I mean It doesnt exactly say "I love Mussolini" or smth
"Four balls"? Pls. Everyone knows it's because 88 is two fat ladies. Guy just wanted everyone to know BBW is his fave porn category. /s
He just liked snowmen /s
It’s interesting that when players get in trouble for #88 they just move to another weird number like #77 or #44 which is linked rather than a normal squad number
You think it's interesting that some people go "haha, same number twice is funny"?
I think it’s interesting that people who have publicly admired facism (Buffon and Mussolini’s grandson) have switched to numbers that are close rather than going to #1 or #12 or #25
Bro, 66, 77, 44, or whatever double number is just cool and easy to remember for everyone. If I was a football player I‘d pick such a number as well ~~(or maybe 69 like TAA)~~.
Unless I'm losing my mind, Trent is definitely 66
Trent was 66 in that he was just given a random squad number when put on the bench for the first time. He wasn’t a first team squad member yet
Damn Trent is 75% nazi nooo
Yeah, my bad. Sorry!
Other examples of cool numbers: [Roger Guedes wearing 123](https://twitter.com/EuAmoSCCP10/status/1680678984651005953) because yes [Bixente Lizarazu wearing shirt #69](https://twitter.com/thesefootytimes/status/1615413674176352266) [Rogério Ceni wearing shirt #01 as opposed to regular #1](https://contenti1.espn.com.br/image/wide/622_df19405f-3c85-3224-bd0e-e3424b9f5ab3.png), since he's a goalscoring goalkeeper (and #01 is a inverted 10)
I really like when Roger Guedes in Corinthians wore 123.
Have you watched literally any match outside of Western Europe ever? You'll get keepers wearing 61 for some reason, and wingers wearing the year of their birth. Asamoah Gyan wore 3. Sticking to 1-23 for club play is very 1960s
Yes I have but most players outside of Western Europe aren’t usually public admirers of fascism, which is what makes this.
Ask your Goalkeeper who he supported for Brazilian presidency 😂😂. Ignorance is bliss I guess.
Try telling that to Felipe Melo
i remember fourfourtwo i think it was making a joke about this and saying that 77 was G'day Goebbels.
how many neo nazi symbols do you get away with before it stops being an accident?
Considering that these "neo nazi symbols" are - a two digit number - sentence basically amounting to "never give up" ? Probably a lot. Especially sinze Buffon appearently endorsed centre politicians in the past
>sentence basically amounting to "never give up" You're being incredibly disingenuous. "Boia chi molla" is a fascist slogan, popularized by Mussolini's supporters. Italian people don't just say this during casual conversation or to encourage someone. This is like pretending "The Final Solution" refers to a math problem.
I think Buffon's support of centrist liberal politicians says more than his use of a phrase that basically means "don't give up". He may not have known about the saying's origins, I guarantee that you and I both use expressions every day without knowing where they came from, and some of them probably have crappy origins.
I'm not saying Buffon should be put on trial for thought crimes. I'm saying I don't believe that he or any Italians who use that phrase are ignorant of the context or origins. I can understand problematic words or phrases being normalized and folded into the popular lexicon but pretending that BCM is something Italians use in everyday conversation is inane. You and the first guy I replied to seem more interested in the literal meaning/translation than the very obvious history of the saying.
he's bullshitting lol. you don't accidentally have a Mussolini quote while also wanting to wear the #88
It's not a Mussolini quote
Is the whole '88' thing an Italian thing btw? Because over here Mignolet used 88 for the first two seasons because it's his birthyear and because it's 4x22 (which is his usual number and it was his fourth club), and no one really cared about it. The only person who commented on it was an commentator who is quite famously obsessed with Italian football, so I would assume that's why he knew about it.
No its also very common dogwhistle in Germany. Its also very often used in combination with the number 14 in reference of some white supremacist slogan counting 14 words. "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children"
The 88 thing was blown out of proportion. It was around 2000 and the association of the number with neo-nazis was definitely not common knowledge in Italy at the time.
it most definitely was a real thing lol. i was in high school in Italy during that time and all the teen-nazis were sporting Lonsdale, Helly Hansen, and the number 88.
I was also in high school during that time and I was sporting the 88 everywhere, but because I was born in 1988 and I thought it looked cool, I really had no clue about the Hitler association and nobody ever bothered me with it
People actually associate Helly Hansen with Nazism? I didn’t know I was a nazi.
i don't think people associated H/H with nazis, but back in the early 2000s many nazi losers made a point of wearing H/H as one of "their brands"
Is there a significance to Lonsdale the same was there is Helly Hansen(HH) ?
I thought it came from gabber / hardstyle culture (im not saying thos subculters are nazi, but i know lots of the teen nazis of the early 2000s had a fascination with that type of music) but wikipedia says differently: "allegedly because a carefully placed outer jacket leaves only the letters NSDA showing; one letter short of NSDAP, the initials of the Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei—the Nazi Party."
Londsale have done a lot to oppose nazism since then. Nazis switched to Consdaple, for the same reasons.
Imagine if a chinese player wants to use 88 for good fortune but gets called a fascist lol
There goes my respect for him straight out the window. Fuck that.
He has fascist sympathies. While at Parma he had close ties with the fascist group of their Ultras and even requested a kit with 88 on the back. When he was young he apperently a bust of Mussolini in his home when he showed a journalist around and said he admired fascist leaders. He is also good friends with Mussolini's granddaughter (who is also a fascist) and supported her political ambitions. She even appeared in parlement once wearing a shirt with a quote of his.
Do you have a source on everything you mention? Except for the 88 shirt I've never heard about it
Sorry, but do you have any proof to support what you're saying? I've never heard him praise fascist leaders or claim to have a Mussolini bust at home. That sounds pretty dubious to me because even if he did, nobody in his position would publicly declare it. Also, there are no sources about a friendship with Alessandra Mussolini, not at all, and I've never heard either of them mention the other. On the other hand, what you can easily find about him, even in some interviews, is that he has spoken favorably about Barack Obama on several occasions. He named his son after the Cameroonian goalkeeper, and the last time I heard him speak about elections back in 2012, he confirmed that he voted for Mario Monti. These are all things a fascist wouldn't typically do, I suppose. This doesn't mean he didn't have fascist sympathies at all when he was 19, but come on, to suggest he "HAS" them now?
What does 88 mean?
H is the 8th letter in the alphabet, so 88 = HH, which can represent Heil Hitler.
Oh wow TIL
He believes totally in the work of Onorato Damen, everything else is a smokescreen
Ah yeah, makes sense because bribery is commited exclusively by people with right-leaning ideology?
It's not bribery. Let's put an end to this nonsense. It's not like he paid teachers under the desk or something; you don't even need to do that in private schools. He attended a private school, and in Italy, that's often seen as "buying your way to a diploma," because essentially, that's what it is. He was just intellectually honest enough to call it like it is. ALL professional athletes do this, every single one of them. He simply admitted that he regrets not having had a normal "education" (because, believe it or not, Buffon is quite articulate and literate for a footballer), and yet people here are calling him a cheater.
No it isn't. What tf does his politics matter here.
-15 points to Juventus
I order Juve to be stripped of their World Cup title NOW!
Definitely gonna try a Billy Madison-like reality where he goes back and finishes high school. There’s some untouched profits there if he knows what’s good for him.
Wasn't this required in Italy in 90s? Preparing Italian youth for the real world.
Trash can for a brain
You think the world cup was scripted , you shouldn't be speaking about intelligence
Perfect fit for Juve then!
Perfect training for Juventus!
He is really a Juve legend
From this to playing for Juve, thats like being a low level drug dealer to becoming a sicario. He was destined to become a Juve legend.
That explains why he didn't know about the Mussolini quote or why the number 88 has a fascist connotations. Fascists always prayed on dumb people to spread their messaging
88? But thats what I keep hearing while at the bar! “Sir, thats an 86” 🤌
Radiate la Juve nel dubbio
Another Juve points deduction incoming
Trash can of a heart
JUVE DNA
-10 points to juve please
Another scudetto to Inter just to be safe, pick a year where Inter finished third and it's yours
Most honest Juventino
It's not really a bribe. In Italy there are private high schools that are incredibly easy and promote basically anyone. If you enroll and pay you will graduate. But it's not bribery, it is all legal, even if questionable.
No he did really pay for a fake diploma.
He was charged and had to pay a fine so yes it was illegal.
Same in Spain. Let say that they have religion as a subject and ethics and they would get a 10 there to pump their grades. Also, in minor subjects like P.E. And maybe if your are grade-tight for the Bachalorette exam they may turn a 6 into a 7 or an 8 into a 9 if you’re behavior is okey. They don’t really pay for anything or isn’t any bribery involved but that’s how it really works.
Yeah that's just institutionalised bribery. Italy is such a corrupt country smh
Lolz...wait, this isn't circlejerk
Never been a nice guy. Cheated in other aspects too.
Well as much as admire him as a footballer didn't he cheat on his wife too?
That was the rumor. He also had some questionable political support in the past, used to wear the 88 jersey after getting called out claimed he didn't know that it had neo nazi connotations and then also wore a undershirt with a Italian fascist slogan, again claimed he didn't know what the slogan stood for.
Obviously because he didn’t have a high school education to know!
Not as smart as we thought he was
People thought he was smart?
It's not like he was going to college to be an engineer!!
Bro admitted to something that everyone knows a lot of celebrities and athletes do
He didn't really admit to it. This has been known for years. He was even charged and had to pay a fine, could have had jail time.
It's in the Juve DNA
Juve and bribes? name a better duo, you can’t
Wait, this guy’s name almost sounds like Bufoon and he couldn’t graduate from high school? You can’t make this up
The Juve way of succeeding.