‘I am a fascist, not a racist,’ [Paolo] Di Canio told the Italian news agency ANSA on Friday.

‘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. (Story.)

Ah. Well, that’s a relief.

Make sure you read at least through paragraph 8. That’s where the story gets really appalling (although, sadly, not surprising).