"Silvio, Silvio" - Berlusconi divides Italy even at his funeral

By Emilio Parodi and Giulio Piovaccari

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy bade farewell to four-times prime minister Silvio Berlusconi on Wednesday at a funeral befitting the business tycoon's colourful life, with mourners bellowing football chants and politicians arguing over a day of national mourning.

Crowds waving the flags of the AC Milan soccer club Berlusconi used to own chanted "Silvio, Silvio" as his coffin was carried inside Milan's gothic cathedral, flanked by ceremonially dressed Carabinieri police with plumed helmets.

Inside were some 2,300 mourners, including the women, politicians and businessmen who had accompanied the 86-year-old during his rise to power and riches.

Marta Fascina, the 33-year-old politician who was Berlusconi's partner during his final years, wept alongside Marina, his eldest daughter, who is expected to inherit his media empire and, some speculate, even his political legacy.

Berlusconi will be cremated and his ashes held in a mausoleum he built for himself and his family in the grounds of his villa outside Milan, a source close to the family told Reuters.

The conservative Forza Italia party he founded dominated Italian politics for much of the last 30 years, while his business empire stretched from real estate to publishing.

Berlusconi was a highly divisive figure who set the mould for other businessmen-turned-politicians like former U.S. President Donald Trump, with a career punctuated by scandals and legal trials.

The funeral homily by Milan's Archbishop Mario Delpini appeared to acknowledge his excesses as well as his qualities.

"What can we say about Silvio Berlusconi? He was a man: a desire for life, a desire for love, a desire for joy."

Police said around 15,000 people followed the funeral on the giant screens installed outside the cathedral, and arguments broke out between the vast majority of Berlusconi admirers and a few detractors who had come to criticise him.

"I was lucky enough to be a part of Forza Italia for 18 years. I was also lucky enough to meet him," said Lucia Adiele, a Forza Italia member who travelled nearly 1,000 km (620 miles) from her home in Altamura, southern Italy.

"The least I could do was to be here and say goodbye for the last time."

STADIUM ATMOSPHERE

In an atmosphere often more similar to a soccer match than a funeral, another group of Berlusconi supporters jumped up and down shouting "anyone who doesn't jump is a communist", a term Berlusconi often used to discredit his political opponents.

The funeral was attended by top Italian politicians including President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose unprecedented decision to declare a day of national mourning drew some criticism.

Meloni's party, Brothers of Italy, Matteo Salvini's League and Forza Italia are the main parties in the right-wing ruling coalition.

Some opposition politicians, including former premier Giuseppe Conte, declined to attend the service, while former centre-left minister Rosy Bindi said an "inappropriate sanctification" was taking place.

The day of mourning is not a public holiday, but rather a symbolic tribute in which flags fly at half mast from public buildings. The European Parliament and the European Commission also decided to pay their respects in this manner.

Tomaso Montanari, rector of Siena's University for Foreigners, refused to respect the order, saying that by flying flags at half mast for Berlusconi his university would "lose all educational and moral credibility".

Bindi, a woman often targeted by Berlusconi's sexist jibes, said the national day of mourning was "disrespectful towards the majority" who opposed the late leader.

Few international leaders travelled to Milan for the funeral. These included Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"Final farewell to Silvio Berlusconi. He was a great statesman and a true friend. Our life is emptier without you. God bless you!" Orban tweeted.

The Russian government said it was not invited, despite the friendship between President Vladimir Putin and Berlusconi, who controversially defended Moscow's invasion of Ukraine saying Putin only wanted to put "decent people" in charge of Kyiv.

"There's only one president, there's only one president," the crowds chanted as the coffin emerged from the cathedral into bright sunshine at the end of the service, in another tweaked version of a popular soccer chant.

The message from his five children published in Italy's main newspapers on Wednesday read, "Sweetest Dad, Thank you for your life, Thank you for your love, You will always live inside us."

(additional reporting by Cristiano Corvino, Angelo Amante and Alvise Armellini, writing by Gavin Jones and Federico Maccioni, editing by Alexandra Hudson and Nick Macfie)