![Cover for: Football, fascism and fandom in modern Italy](https://www.eurozine.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/7f80494690b67cf7ba6126ac15a3d8ca.jpg)
The Fascist regime laid the foundations of contemporary football in Italy, however its influence was not profound enough to explain the far-right’s existence in stadiums since the 1980s. The far-right’s presence in Italian football has instead been a direct consequence of the weakness of the post-war state.