The Italian Football Association and members of the Italian government have signed an agreement to ban players from wearing the No.88 in their efforts to crackdown on anti-Semitism in football.

The ban comes in the midst of a nationwide effort to eradicate anti-Semitism from the beautiful game, as the agreement also permits matches to be stopped in the event of anti-Semitic chants, expressions and actions, as well as banning other hate symbols.

Earlier this year a Lazio fan wore a shirt with the name, ‘Hitlerson’ and the No.88 on the back – a number synonymous with Neo-Nazism – during the club’s win against Roma, whilst two other fans were involved in a separate anti-Semitic incident also last season. All three fans received lifelong bans from Stadio Olympico.

The Jewish Italian community have called for more to be done in recent years in an effort to make sport safe for everyone, and with this new agreement in place, the Italian FA has started what will likely be a long process of rooting out discriminatory actions.