The 88 Shirt That Got Gianluigi Buffon in Trouble, And Banned in Italy | OneFootball

Gianluigi Buffon thought he was making a ballsy statement of strength and determination. Instead, he walked straight into one of the most controversial moments of his career due to having wearing a Parma jersey with the number 88 shirt.

In 2000, Buffon returned to club football with Parma after missing Euro 2000 through injury. He wanted to make a point. His shirt number, he believed, would say it for him. The number 88 shirt, he claimed, reminded him of “four balls”, a cheeky Italian metaphor for courage, guts, and determination, to be ballsy. But what seemed like a bold choice quickly turned into a PR nightmare.

Why 88 Caused Outrage

Unbeknownst to Buffon at the time, or so he claimed, the number 88 is widely recognised as a neo-Nazi symbol. The letter ‘H’ is the eighth in the alphabet, and 88 is often used by white supremacists as shorthand for “Heil Hitler.” For members of Italy’s Jewish community, the sight of one of the country’s most prominent footballers wearing the number on his back was deeply offensive.

Criticism was swift. Jewish leaders called for Buffon to change his number out of respect. The incident snowballed, not helped by Buffon’s earlier misstep in 1998, when he wore a shirt with the slogan “Boia chi molla”, meaning “Death to cowards,” a phrase historically associated with fascist ideology under Mussolini.

Buffon’s Defence: “I Didn’t Know”

Buffon quickly held a press conference to explain himself. He said the 88 shirt wasn’t his first choice. Initially, he wanted to wear 00, but Serie A regulations didn’t allow it. He also considered 01, which was rejected as non-standard. 01 had personal meaning too, it was the number on the General Lee car in The Dukes of Hazzard, one of his favourite TV shows growing up.

He was hurt by the accusations:

His mother, Maria Stella Masocco, defended him publicly:

Meanwhile, Parma’s sporting director Michele Uva dismissed the criticism:

Quick timeline

A Shirt That Wouldn’t Go Away

Despite the apologies and explanations, the damage was done. Buffon was eventually persuaded to switch his number to 77 out of respect for the offended communities. But the incident left a mark.

Two decades later, Buffon admitted in his autobiography that he regretted apologising, claiming he was “crucified” by the press and that his only mistake was being too accommodating.

But for many, it wasn’t about the intent, it was about the impact. In a country still grappling with the remnants of fascist ideology and rising hate crimes, symbols matter. And whether Buffon meant it or not, the 88 shirt meant something very different to a lot of people.

Beyond the 88 shirt, Buffon’s other controversies

It helps to see the Buffon 88 shirt controversy as one chapter in a longer story. Buffon has said so himself. Years after the row, he listed the episodes that had clung to him, from “Boia chi molla” to the 88 shirt, the bought diploma, the betting headlines, the Muntari goal debate, and that clumsy line about “better two injured than one dead.” He framed them as mistakes of youth, ignorance that was not an excuse, and a few opinions he would not retract. That summary appears in la Repubblica, which revisited his remarks and quoted him directly.

The first flashpoint came at Parma in September 1999, when he appeared with “Boia chi molla” written on an undershirt after a match with Lazio. The phrase is tied to fascist usage in Italy, and the incident drew swift criticism. He later apologised and called it a foolish act born of ignorance. Contemporary Italian reports said the federation referred him and that he was fined 5 million lire.

Not every controversy involved a shirt. Around the same period Italian newspapers reported that he had enrolled at the University of Parma with a non-authentic accountancy diploma, and that he accepted a plea agreement in 2001 that carried a 6-million-lire fine. In recent years Buffon has openly said the diploma was a youthful error, calling it a shortcut he would not take again. La Gazzetta dello Sport published that admission in 2024. For the 2001 fine figure, Italian outlets and biographies have long cited Il Tirreno’s report from 7 February 2001.

Another storm came in 2006 with Calciopoli, the refereeing scandal that shook Italian football to its core. Juventus were stripped of two league titles and relegated to Serie B, their reputation in ruins. Buffon had just won the World Cup in Berlin, yet chose to stay in Turin when many of his team-mates left.

With him in goal, Juve won Serie B at the first attempt and returned to the top flight. Buffon was questioned in the wider investigations, as his name had been linked in press reports to betting activity, but by the end of that year prosecutors cleared him and he faced no sporting sanction. For supporters, his decision to remain became a symbol of loyalty in Juventus’ darkest days, even as critics reminded the public of the controversies that had followed him throughout his career.

In 2012, as the calcioscommesse investigations rumbled, financial-crime reporters at Corriere della Sera wrote that police had logged 14 personal cheques from Buffon totalling about €1.58 million to a Parma tobacconist that also operated as a betting shop. His lawyer denied wrongdoing, and no sporting ban followed. Coverage in Il Sole 24 Ore the same week set out the same figures and timing.

That same spring he delivered the line that still follows him around. “In alcuni casi si dice meglio due feriti che un morto,” better two injured than one dead. He was speaking at Coverciano about end-season matches where a draw suits both teams, the so-called biscotto. The phrase caused uproar because it landed while investigators probed illegal betting and alleged fixes. Corriere della Sera and La Nazione both quoted the remark and set the context.

Within days, national papers reported that prosecutors wanted to question him about the comment. Buffon later complained about the media storm and defended his right to express an opinion, while insisting he had been speaking generally about convenience draws rather than fixing.

Another controversy happened in February 2012 at the San Siro. Milan led Juventus 1-0 through Antonio Nocerino when Sulley Muntari headed the ball over the line, only for Gianluigi Buffon to claw it out. Referee Paolo Tagliavento initially appeared to award the goal, but assistant Roberto Romagnoli advised that the ball had not crossed the line, so play continued. The match finished 1-1 and the incident became a key talking point in the debate over goal-line technology.

The next day Buffon told reporters that even if he had realised the ball was in, he certainly would not have told the referee, which he framed as normal competitive behaviour, and he added that in the moment he did not know the ball had fully crossed the line.

Set together, these episodes do not erase what he won. They explain why symbols and statements around him have been read so closely, Buffon is an icon, a living legend, but he isn’t without flaws. When he says he made mistakes, that ignorance is not a defence, and that he would still stand by some opinions, you get the tension at the heart of his public life. It is the same tension that made the Buffon 88 shirt controversy flare in 2000, and the same reason we care about the details now.

The Final Straw: From Buffon to a Nationwide Ban

For years, the 88 shirt continued to appear in Serie A, worn by players like Hernanes, Marco Borriello, and Mario Pašalić. But it was the events of March 2023 that finally triggered action.

During the Rome derby between Lazio and Roma, a Lazio fan was spotted in the stands wearing a shirt that said “Hitlerson” with the number 88 on the back. Two other fans were seen making fascist salutes and chanting anti-Semitic slogans. Lazio responded by issuing lifetime bans to all three, but the message was clear: the problem hadn’t gone away.

Just a few months later, on 27 June 2023, the Italian Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Sport, and the FIGC (Italian football federation) introduced an official ban on the number 88 shirt across all levels of Italian football. The move was part of a broader effort to combat anti-Semitism, with provisions also allowing matches to be halted in the event of discriminatory behaviour.

Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi stated:

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina added:

Quick Background about the 88 shirt

Why is 88 shirt banned in Italy?Because extremist groups use 88 as code for HH, which stands for Heil Hitler, H is the eighth letter of the alphabet. Italian authorities and the FIGC moved to remove coded hate symbols from stadiums, and introduced a protocol that can halt matches in cases of anti-Semitic behaviour.

What did Buffon say about the 88 shirt?He said he wanted 00 or 01, both refused by the league at the time, and chose 88 because it reminded him of “four balls”, a metaphor for strength and determination. He apologised and offered to change, later saying he felt unfairly treated.

Is 88 banned outside Italy?There is no single global rule when it comes to the 88 shirt. Some clubs and leagues discourage or prohibit it case by case, others allow it but monitor for context and intent. In Scotland for example, the 88 shirt is often worn by Celtic fans and players due to the club being founded in 1888. Gary Hooper famously wore the jersey due to being born in 1988 and it also being relevant to the club’s history.

The Legacy of the 88 Shirt

Buffon never wore the 88 shirt again after the 2000–01 season. At Juventus, he took number 77. At PSG, he wore 18. The infamous 88 shirt became a footnote in his otherwise illustrious career, but one that continues to resurface any time discussions around fascism or racism in Italian football come up.

He remains one of Italy’s most celebrated players. But his choice in 2000, whether naïve or not, remains a red mark against him and about how much weight a shirt number can carry.