'I'm a fascist not a racist' - Di Canio

Lazio striker Paolo Di Canio is to appeal against a ban and a fine imposed following a recent straight-arm salute, claiming that while the gesture is fascist it was not of a racist character.

"I am a fascist, not a racist," Di Canio told the Italian news agency ANSA yesterday.

"I give the straight arm salute because it is a salute from a 'camerata' to 'camerati'," he said using the Italian words for members of the late dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist movement.

"The salute is aimed at my people. With the straight arm I don't want to incite violence and certainly not racial hatred," he said.

Di Canio missed Lazio's game at Lecce on Wednesday after he was banned for one match and fined €10,000 for making the fascist-style salute during a recent Serie A match.

In his autobiography Di Canio makes clear his admiration for Mussolini and he also wears a tattoo with the word 'Dux' - Latin for 'Duce' the name Mussolini gave himself during his rule over the country.

Di Canio was a member of Lazio's hardcore 'ultras' fan group before becoming a player.

On Tuesday the sport's governing body FIFA asked the Italian Football Federation to submit its file on the player who once won FIFA's Fair Play Award.