Rightist League councillors in Verona on Tuesday filed a motion to sue Mario Balotelli for allegedly defaming the northern city while Hellas Verona banned for 10 years the ultra who said the Italo-Ghanaian was not fully Italian after standing up to racism in Brescia's 2-1 defeat there on Sunday.
The four councillors, three from the League and one in a civic list backing Mayor Federico Sboarina, again claimed that "no none present at the stadium heard the monkey chants" that spurred Balotelli to hoof the ball into the stands.
"Neither the public, nor the Brescia bench, not the Sky journalists at pitchside heard them," they claimed.
"And that immediately kicked off a media campaign against the city of Verona both by some politicians, in the (centre-left) Democratic Party (PD) statement, and by some journalists who, while not being present at the stadium, did not skip the chance to sling mud on our city".
They urged the mayor and other public officials to take immediate legal action against "the player and all those who are attacking Verona, unjustly defaming it".
Sboarina on Sunday denounced what he called a media pillory against Verona and said that there had been no monkey chants. Meanwhile Hellas Verona issued a stadium ban lasting till 2030 for the ultra chief who said Balotelli was not fully Italian, Luca Castellini.
Castellini said the former Inter, AC Milan, Man City, Liverpool, Nice and Marseille striker had been guilty of a "farce" and was "not completely Italian".
Castellini was also banned for saying that "hailing Hitler is just a prank".
Hellas said these statements had been "gravely against the ethical principles and values of our club".
Italy's sporting judge on Tuesday closed Verona's end stand where the ultras stand for one game because of "the racist insults against Mario Balotelli".
Racism has long been an issue for Italian football, but the problem has been particularly bad this season, with Balotelli, new Inter signing Romelu Lukaku and AC Milan's Franck Kessie among the victims.
Balotelli, who was born in Italy to Ghanaian migrants and has 36 caps for the national team, threatened to leave the field because of the chanting and hoofed the ball into the stands at one point to vent his anger.
The 29-year-old striker has frequently been the victim of racist abuse during his career. "To the 'people' in the (Verona) end (stand who made the monkey noises): Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on you in front of your children, wives, parents, relatives, friends and acquaintances...shame," Balotelli, who returned to play for his hometown club this season after several years in France, said via Instagram.
Hellas ultra chief Luca Castellini was unrepentant on Monday.
"Balotelli is Italian because he has Italian citizenship but he will never be able to be totally Italian," Castellini told Radio Cafè. When asked if Verona fans were racist, Castellini replied: "we have a negro in our team and he scored yesterday and all of Verona applauded". Castellini was referring to 18-year-old forward Eddie Salcedo, an Italian with Colombian parents. Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora called on Hellas Verona and the city's mayor, Federico Sboarina, to condemn the racist abuse. "I call on Verona to firmly condemn what happened and take the necessary measures, especially in light of the statements made by the head of their ultras," Spadafora said. "I also call on the mayor of Verona, who yesterday denied there being racist chants and blamed Balotelli for creating a media pillory against the city, to watch the footage again and distance himself from those chants". Hellas played down the chants while Sboarina said he was at the game and heard nothing untoward.
Verona coach Ivan Juric said nothing happened. Sources at the Italian Soccer Federation's prosecutor's office said around 30 Verona fans were directing racist chants at Balotelli.
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