Brescia Chairman Massimo
Cellino on Monday made an apparent joke about Mario Balotelli's
skin colour as he commented on the situation after the forward
was dropped for his side's 3-0 defeat at AS Roma on Sunday.
"He's black and he's working to lighten up, but he has lots
of difficulty," a smiling Cellino said when asked about the
29-year-old player.
The remark also appeared to be a pun on 'nero', the Italian
word for black, which can also mean 'in a foul temper'.
Cellino's intended quip was not immediately denounced as
racist by officials and politicians, apart from a lone leftwing
MP.
"Cellino responds to difficulties with racist remarks which
don't even make you smile because they don't make sense," said
Nicola Fratoianni of the Free and Equal (LeU) leftist party.
Brescia were quick to try and dismiss the remark as a "quip,
based on a paradox, clearly misunderstood, made in an attempt to
defuse excessive media coverage and meant to protect the
player".
Cellino himself said he had nothing to apologise for.
"Who called me a racist?," he said. "If you write all the
rubbish I say, you'll never stop writing. I don't have to
apologise for something I don't believe. If I clarify, I do more
damage. Decent people know me".
Balotelli, who was born in Italy to Ghanaian migrants, was
dropped for the match after a training-ground row with coach
Fabio Grosso.
The forward has frequently been the target for racist abuse
during his career and he hoofed the ball into the stands and
came close to walking off when he was subjected to monkey chants
in a recent match at Hellas Verona.
Last week the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) appeals court
on Thursday suspended an order closing the ultra stand of Verona
stadium for one match over the chants, pending further
investigations into Verona's appeal.
Cellino added that he thinks Balotelli should focus less on
social media.
"It's right to communicate with people but perhaps Balotelli
gives more weight to social media than to his value as a
sportsman," he said.
"I signed him because he is 1.90 metes, he's an animal and he
is still young enough to make a statement in soccer".
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