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Manchester United fans direct racist comments at Balotelli
Mario Balotelli was subject to racist abuses once again, this time on social media, when he made fun of Manchester United during their 5-3 defeat at the hands of newly promoted Leicester City.
The Liverpool forward posted the following innocuous tweet during the 8-goal thriller.
However, fans already at a tipping point after seeing their side blow a 3-1 lead got abusive.
Balotelli, who has previously played for Manchester United’s other bitter rivals Manchester City, was on the receiving end of endless replies as the tweet got almost 200 thousand retweets. The player is believed to have donated a huge amount o the arson-hit Manchester Dogs’ Home recently.
Merseyside Police confirmed on their Twitter account that they are investigating the comments made on the Italian’s tweet though a number of accounts have now been deactivated.
Balotelli has faced it throughout his career
The 24-year-old’s career in Italy, with Inter and AC Milan, has been plagued with racism. In May, In May, police had dispersed a crowd aiming racist comments at the then-AC Milan star.
The incident prompted his teammate Ciro Immobile, now with Borussia Dortmund to say, “In 2014, we shouldn't need to be talking about racism again.”
In 2012, just before the Euros, he had given a stern warning to fans.
"I will not accept racism at all. It's unacceptable. If someone throws a banana at me in the street, I will go to jail, because I will kill them."
In 2013, the forward had threatened to walk off the pitch if he was ever subject to racist chants again.
This incident comes in the wake of the Premier League’s Kick it Out campaign aimed at weeding out the malice from the game and one can only hope that the authorities deal with the matter appropriately.
Pirlo on Balotelli
Former team-mate Andrea Pirlo had the following to say about Balotelli in his book ‘Andrea Pirlo: I Think Therefore I Play’.
“I’m not sure he really appreciates it yet, but he’s a special kind of medicine, an antidote to the potentially lethal poison of the racists you find in Italian grounds. They’re a truly horrendous bunch, a herd of frustrated individuals who’ve taken the worst of history and made it their own.
And they’re more than just a minority, despite what certain mealy-mouthed spin doctors would have you believe. Those guys would use a fire extinguisher to put out a match.
Whenever I see Mario at an Italy training camp, I’ll give him a big smile. It’s my way of letting him know that I’m right behind him and that he mustn’t give up. A gesture that means ‘thank you’. He’s often targeted and insulted by opposition fans. Let’s say that the way he goes about his business perhaps doesn’t help him get much love, but I’m still convinced that if he was white, people would leave him in peace.
‘Jump up high so Balotelli dies’ is an unspeakable chant that, sadly, I’ve heard at the Juventus Stadium amongst other places. Even worse are the monkey noises that I’ve listened to pretty much everywhere.
But instead of depressing Mario, moronic behaviour of that kind actually seems to fire him up. He won’t let this human trash get their way, and it’s the most intelligent response because if you listen to what a stupid person says, you elevate them to the position of interlocutor.
If you simply ignore them (still acknowledging that, unfortunately, they exist) you’re leaving them to stew in their own polluted sea: one where there are no friends and no shore. The good news is that even sharks can die of loneliness after a while. Prandelli has given us national team players some firm direction on the matter. “If you hear people in the stands disrespecting Mario, run over to him and hug him.”
In that idea hate can be cancelled out by an equivalent dose of love. Not a fashionable choice, but a pretty forceful idea. ... I’m happy that Mario is the way he is. He’ll react (wrongly) to provocation on the pitch, but doesn’t let what’s going on in the crowd affect him. If he scores, he might put his finger to his lips to mock the opposition fans, something that really infuriates them, but if they tell him he’s got the wrong colour of skin he’ll simply laugh in their faces.
He makes complete fools of them and emerges a convincing winner. The way I see it, he’s capable of becoming a symbol of the fight against racism, both in Italy and throughout the world.”
