Mario Balotelli endures racist abuse from own fans in Italy friendly with Romania
Nov 18, 2010, 11:20 AM EDT
Mario Balotelli is such a lighting rod in Italy he even has a neologism named after him. They call it “Generation Balotelli”, a term to describe the Italian-born children of immigrants who have been coming to Italy over the past twenty years. But while many Italians welcome a new national identity that will avoid racism and discrimination, many do not. And many of those are soccer fans.
The Manchester City striker was subjected to racist taunts and chants by a group of about 100 extreme right-wing Italian fans during Italy’s 1-1 draw with Romania on Tuesday in Austria. From the BBC:
A banner of bearing the message “No to a multi-ethnic national team” was confiscated in Klagenfurt’s HypoArena stadium where the match was played.
Only 3,000 fans watched the game in Austria because of commercial reasons.
Before his move to City from Inter Milan during the summer the Sicily-born Balotelli was subjected to racist abuse by Juventus supporters, who hung banners in their stadium last year which read: “A negro cannot be Italian”.
At the time of his move to Eastlands, Balotelli’s older sister Cristina told BBC Sport: “Mario is very proud to be black and Italian. He wants to represent Italy. He was born in Italy. He’s never been to Africa, not yet. His country is Italy.
Balotelli also has another nickname — the Italian Bad Boy — due to his aggressive and confrontational style of play. But most observers agree that he is held accountable for actions that would be forgiven with other Italian players.
“I feel disappointment and anger,” said Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, referring to the racist abuse directed at Balotelli.
“We always hear these chants and something has to be done about it. We feel helpless. He has the support of everyone.”
Racism lives everywhere, I suppose; we Americans can’t exactly be holier than thou on the subject. But it’s still pretty jarring to see it exhibited so nakedly in a high-profile sporting event. So I’m officially saying, knock it off, Italy. Or we’ll put you in a time out with Spain.
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Racists target Man City striker Balotelli in Italy game [BBC News]
Mario Balotelli subjected to racist abuse in Italy’s friendly clash with Romania in Klagenfurt [The Telegraph]
