ROME Italian champions Lazio, whose supporters have been heavily criticized for racist behavior, have named a black player in their squad for the first time in four years.

Ghanaian central defender Daniel Ola, 18, has been named in the Lazio squad to face Udinese in the Italian Cup later on Wednesday and is likely to start on the bench.

The only other black player to have played for Lazio was Dutchman Aron Winter, who was with the Rome Club from 1992 to 1996 before moving on to inter Milan and, now, Ajax Amsterdam.

Winter was targeted by racist Lazio fans during his spell at the club.

Lazio have been fined on numerous occasions because of their constant booing of black players at the Olympic Stadium.

The club was embroiled in a race controversy last month in a champions league game with Arsenal. The English Club's Black Players were constantly abused by the crowd and their French midfielder Patrick Vieira claimed he had been racially abused by Lazio's Yugoslav defender Sinisa Mihajlovic.

Mihajlovic later apologized and called on Lazio supporters to stop booing black players. But his words appear to have had little effect on the hard-core "ultras" at the north end of the stadium, with Bologna's black players recent victims of abuse.

Ola joined Lazio in 1999 but spent much of last season on loan to Swiss second division club Etoile courage before returning to Rome in July, playing in the youth team.

(Reuter)