would revolt and disrupt Italy's democratic and united appearance. Social, economic, and political influence, as well as the Vatican's power allowed "the Fascist past [to be] drowned under the weight of the classical and Christian heritage." The Vatican owned the land underneath the stadium, and the Pope, Pope Pius XII, supported the use of the stadium for the Games because it not only would attract many visitors, but also bring in revenue for the Vatican. During the 1960s, there was little focus, controversy, or criticism placed on the "Fascist heritage" or its "political origins" and the purpose of the stadium, but rather on the history of ancient Rome and its classical elements used in the design of the statues within the stadium and the architecture of the stadium itself. Prior to the 1990 Football Championships, the Foro Italico underwent a large-scale restoration. Some people supported the restoration of these stadiums as an initiative to protect Italian historical heritage, while others considered it as an act of honor to the Fascist leader, Mussolini. The restoration was managed by Walter Veltroni, the Minister of Culture, who stated: "To condemn [Fascism] we need to understand, historicize, and rationalize it, not remove it." Romanità and the Fascist regime Romanità is "a deep affection for Rome and things Roman, in an effort to identify with a primordial Rome that is impervious to contemporary political and social trends." This fondness arose in Fascist society through the emphasis that it placed on sports as a form of civic and military education, and it continues to thrive within Italian soccer culture. Apart from being a Fascist site, the Stadio dei Marmi, with its ancient Roman and Greek inspired statues, and modern, pure, and simple architecture, is also a site of Romanità, where all Italian social classes learned values of unity, vigor, and virility. Extremists argue that the grandeur of Stadio dei Marmi itself is an exemplar of "superiority of Roman cultural forms." Through sports and the concept of Romanità, the Fascist regime not only associated itself with Ancient Rome, but strengthened and unified itself. To this day, the concept of Romanità continues to inhabit the Stadio Olimpico, at the Foro Italico, with the rival soccer teams A.S. Roma and S.S. Lazio. Criticism Professor Valerie Higgins, Program Director of Sustainable Cultural Heritage, remarked that the decision to keep almost all Fascist monuments, inscriptions, symbols, and architecture visible was not