He used to stand at the edge of the field before Lazio‘s home matches, guiding the eagle named Olimpia through graceful circles over the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. As the team’s falconer, Juan Bernabè was a familiar face who brought a sense of tradition to one of Italian soccer’s storied clubs. But when photos of his penis implant surfaced on social media, Lazio fired him without hesitation. The fallout, and the extraordinary move that followed, rocked the club in ways few could have imagined.
Bernabè admitted sharing pictures of his post-surgery body, explaining that he wanted to show a medical procedure he found remarkable. “I’ve never regretted anything,” he told the radio show La Zanzara. “For me, nudity is normal.”
Yet the public nature of these images angered Lazio’s hierarchy, which quickly declared his actions incompatible with the role. “Shocked to see the photographic images and video of Mr. Juan Bernabè,” the club said in a statement, “Lazio announces that it has stopped, with immediate effect, all relationships with this person, given the seriousness of his behavior.”
The barricade at Formello
After losing his job, Bernabè locked himself inside the club’s training facility. He had lived there for years while caring for and training Olimpia, whose pre-match flight had become a symbol of Lazio’s identity. By barricading himself on the premises, he hoped for an audience with club president Claudio Lotito, though it became clear the president was not in a forgiving mood. “There’s no forgiveness,” Lotito said. “Our contracts state that whoever violates the club’s ethics must leave.”
The standoff highlighted Bernabè’s checkered past. In 2021, he was suspended for performing a fascist salute and chanting “Duce, Duce” in reference to Benito Mussolini. Supporters once questioned his reinstatement, yet the falconer continued working with no apparent concern about lingering tensions. This time, there would be no second chance.
The club has not said if it will replace Bernabè or how soon Olimpia might return to the Stadio Olimpico. For now, both Lazio and its most famous raptor have been left in a state of limbo, united by tradition but divided by scandal.
