Mario Balotelli reveals extent of racist abuse he suffered while growing up in Italy
The Italian striker opened up to discuss the impact being black has had on his career, relationships and school
MARIO BALOTELLI has opened up on the extent of his racist abuse in a new book and believes he would "have had less problems if I was white".
The Nice and Italy striker revealed stories in Alessandro Alciato's book Demoni ('Demons') and was again subject to racial abuse this week.
Balotelli, 27, endured a difficult childhood after being adopted by Silvia and Francesco Balotelli when his Ghanaian parents were unable to pay his health care needs in Italy.
And from then on, the entertaining forward started to endure hardship.
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He told : "Of course, if I was white then I’d have had less problems. I receive so many letters from kids, who consider me an example for never backed down to racism.
"It was disgraceful, having doors slammed in your face for 18 years. The doors opened wide after I received [Italian] citizenship, but I was treated the same as before."
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Balotelli recalled two incidents during his childhood that he will never forget.
He said: "Some snacks had disappeared from desks at school once. [The teachers] immediately thought it was me without investigating.
"However, there’s one incident that I’ll never forget: the tears stopped coming down after that...
"I’d done all my homework. I knew that my mum would let me out to play football. ‘Hi guys, shall we play?’ ‘No Mario, you can’t.’ ‘But I did my homework…’ ‘No Mario, you’re black.
"I was black, therefore I was different in their eyes. I thought they didn’t want me because I was exuberant even back then, but as the years passed, I unfortunately discovered the truth."
The striker joined Inter Milan in 2007 and spent three years there before signing for Manchester City where he helped win the league in 2012.
"In 2009, I experienced the transition to adulthood in this respect. During a Juventus-Inter game, they called me ‘monkey’, ‘negro’, ‘go back to Africa’ and booed me.
"The second incident happened in June, outside a bar in Rome with my Under-21 teammates. While we were chatting, a motorbike emerged from afar and one of the two people riding on it shouted, ‘Negro! Negro Negro!’
"Then they approached me, slowed down and threw a bunch of bananas at me, as if I were a monkey. They were also wrong with their aim, hitting the barmaid instead of me."
His irresponsible attitude and inconsistent performances saw him leave for AC Milan in 2013 but after just one season he was back in the Premier League, this time at Liverpool.
But once more he struggled and found himself on loan to Milan in 2015-16 before signing for Nice in 2016.
It is at Nice that he has got his career back on track and scored an impressive 25 goals in 36 appearances in all competitions this season.
That form helped him force his way back into the Italian national team and he made his first cap for the Azzurri since the 2014 World Cup, where he scored against England, on Monday.
Italy beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 and it was Balotelli who netted the opener but the vice-captain was the subject of more racial abuse.
A banner was unveiled that read: "My captain is of Italian blood" but Balotelli was praised for his response.
The striker took to Instagram and posted on his story: "We are in 2018 guys enough! Wake up! Please!"
Anti-discrimination group FARE tweeted their support after Balotelli was unfortunately forced to stand up to racism again.