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Mario Balotelli is an Italian professional soccer player who was known worldwide for his finishing skills as a striker. Although he had much success, he unfortunately suffered an immense amount of racial abuse.

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1The first image I want to talk about is the most important as well as the most controversial in terms of the history of Mario Balotelli’s career. Previous to this game, Balotelli had been receiving backlash for his outlash on some fans for racially abusing him. As mentioned, Balotelli was a prominent scorer and would always have creative celebrations. After he scored against his teams rival in 2011, he pulled up his shirt and revealed the “Why always me?” shirt under his jersey.

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This youtube video is a compilation of the best goals from Balotelli's career

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Mario Balotelli - How Good He Is Now? Amazing Goals & Skills - 2020

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This is a link from ESPN that shows Balotelli and his career statistics by the numbers. Something to note is that over the course of his career, he progressively was less effective for hte teams he played for. Many think this was caused by his mental well being as he dealt with much more than racist fans off the field. He also battled severe depression. This can all lead back to the negative effect of racism

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Latest on Adana Demirspor forward Mario Balotelli including news, stats, videos, highlights and more on ESPN

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This GIF shows Balotelli and former teammate Edison Cavani getting heated over some words in which Balotelli explained as 'racist remarks'

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This shirt was a message to the rival supporters and all other fans who had been racially abusing him on and off the pitch. He wanted to let them know that he was tired of this abuse and wanted to know why he was the main player being targeted in the sport.

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This article discusses the impact of racism on not only Balotelli, but the conflicts that racism has been causing throughout the sport in general

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BOLOGNA, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 07: Mario Balotelli of Italy looks on during the UEFA Nations League A group three match between Italy and Poland at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara on September 7, 2018 in Bologna, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Mario Balotelli is a footballer who divides opinion. Any praise for his rocket-powered right peg or nimble footwork under pressure is often met with counterclaims about the Brescia striker's brash tackling, at times costly showboating and eccentric behaviour off the pitch. But while the conversation around whether Balotelli the player is worth the hassle for a team is wholly legitimate, the basic civility that should be shown towards Balotelli the person is not a matter for debate.

Italian football, evidently, has not grasped this concept. During Brescia's Serie A match at Hellas Verona earlier this month, Balotelli, who was born in Palermo to Ghanaian parents before being fostered by a Jewish Italian family, was the subject of racist chants that compared him to a monkey.

In response, the 29-year-old threatened to walk off the pitch, only to be convinced to stay on by his teammates. The referee, Maurizio Mariani, stopped the game for five minutes and a message was read out over the stadium's PA system, warning the crowd that the fixture would be abandoned if the chants continued. The match finished 2-1 to Verona, with a visibly hurt Balotelli scoring Brescia's goal - a screamer from long range.

As punishment for the chanting, Serie A's disciplinary commission ordered the part-closure of one of the stands in Verona's ground for the following fixture. Within the context of football's finances, built principally on lucrative broadcasting deals and advertising, this is barely a slap on the wrist.

To make matters worse, shortly after the incident, Luca Castellini, the head of Verona's "ultra" fan group, Brigate Gialloblù, claimed that there wasn't any racist undertone to the chanting. He insisted that it was designed simply to "make fun" of Balotelli, before suggesting that the forward, who holds Italian citizenship and has 36 caps for Italy's national team, can "never be fully Italian" anyway, because he is black.

And to make matters even worse, a statement published last week by Bescia's own ultra group, 1911, said that Balotelli had brought on the chanting himself because of his flamboyant playing style. "We have no doubts Balotelli is to all intents Italian - even a Bresciano," it started promisingly, before offering a horrifically poor take on the situation. "The arrogance that he continually gives off is unjustifiable."

Sadly, Balotelli's experience of racism and Italian football's gauche handling of it is not an isolated incident. Between 2011 and 2016, the Observatory on Racism in Football recorded 249 racist incidents in Italian stadiums. Last season alone, it recorded 60.

Balotelli himself has been targeted by racists on many occasions throughout his career. In 2018, during Italy's 2-1 friendly win over Saudi Arabia in which he scored, some Azzurri fans unfurled a banner in protest at Balotelli's inclusion in the team. "Il mio capitano è di sangue Italiano," it read, which translates into English as "My captain has Italian blood."

Despite this, the incident at Verona, and the multiple times he faced similar chants while playing for his previous clubs, Inter and AC Milan, staggeringly Balotelli has continued to insist that his own sense of Italian identity has not been diminished.

But it should not be on Balotelli, who has also played for Manchester City, Liverpool, Nice and Marseille, to rise above hate. That hate should not be allowed to exist, and where transgressions do occur, they should be punished with the severity they deserve. If Serie A, or indeed any football organisation, is committed to a zero-tolerance stance on racism, and not just paying lip service, then it must act accordingly.

Immediate forfeits, points deductions, huge fines, transfer embargos and, in the most serious cases, relegation or expulsion from a tournament, should not be perceived as too harsh. If Verona had been docked ten points or not been allowed to sign any players in the summer, would their fans be as willing to boo and harass black players in the future?

One of the main reasons why racism in football persists is that there is little deterrent. In October, when England beat Bulgaria 6-0 in a Euro 2020 qualifier in Sofia, their black players were targeted with monkey chants and Nazi salutes from a section of the home fans. UEFA, European football's governing body, punished Bulgaria by ordering they play one fixture behind closed doors and fining their football association a measly €75,000 (£65,000).

But back to Balotelli, whose bravado in press conferences, expensive clothes or audacious haircuts do not excuse the cruelty he has endured. The striker's treatment, it could be argued, reflects the grim reality of some wider negative cultural trends. Not just in Italy, but across Europe, the rise of ultra-nationalist and populist agendas that peddle anti-immigration narratives are catalysing bigotry.

Football, as much a social institution as a popular pastime in most countries on the continent, is a useful snapshot of public life. If politicians, such as Matteo Salvini, the leader of Italy's far-right party Lega Nord, are putting forward racist messages and ideas, is it any wonder that a portion of these have transitioned to the terraces?

If football is to be used, as is desirable, as a force for good, to unify classes, cultures and creeds, then urgent action and re-education are necessary. The practices of victim-blaming and gaslighting black players must be eliminated. Organisations, such as Serie A or UEFA, would do well to stop giving racists the benefit of the doubt, while committing to punishment structures that actually make a difference.

Mario Balotelli, the maverick striker who wrestled with a training bib and became the face of a firework safety campaign a few days after setting fire to his house by launching fireworks indoors, is not everyone's cup of tea. But, under no circumstances, was his experience at Verona justifiable. And although racism in football is not a uniquely Italian problem, Italian football will always struggle to shed its racist tag as long as it continues to handle these situations so badly.

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Mario Balotelli and the racism that ruins football

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Mario Balotelli is a footballer who divides opinion. Any praise for his rocket-powered right peg or nimble footwork under pressure is often met with counterclaims about the Brescia striker's brash tackling, at times costly showboating and eccentric behaviour off the pitch.

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This link is to a video in which describes the response that Balotelli had to fans who were racially taunting him. As you might find out, this response was able to satisfy his need for getting back at the fans.

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The day Mario Balotelli had the perfect response to racist fans | Oh My Goal

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The face of Balotelli after learning of the racial abuse from the fans. As you can see, the look of despair and agony are present on his face as he

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Balotelli is being confronted in this image by players who assumed he was lashing out on the crowd when in fact, he was acting against the racist remarks and taunts from the away fans

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More information from CNN in an article about some of the racial abuse Balotelli has received in the Italian professional soccer league.

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Brescia striker Mario Balotelli threatened to leave the pitch after he was racially abused by opposition Verona fans in the latest episode of racism to afflict Italy's top football division.

Balotelli - born in Italy to Ghanaian parents - picked up the ball in the second half near the corner flag and kicked it towards the fans that were abusing him with monkey chants during his team's 2-1 away loss in Serie A on Sunday.

Balotelli seemed set to quit the encounter but was stopped by teammates and Verona players, who consoled the 29-year-old.

The game did continue and Balotelli scored a stunning goal in the 85th minute before taking to Instagram to thank his "colleagues on and off the pitch" while also condemning the offenders.

"Thanks to all the colleagues on the pitch and outside of it for the solidarity shown towards me and all the messages received from you fans. You have proven to be real men, unlike those who deny the facts," he said.

"The 'people' of this curva who made the monkey chants. Shame on you, shame on you, shame on you. Shame on you, In front of your children, wives, relatives, parents, friends and acquaintances."

The 'curva' often alludes to the part of the stadium where a club's hard core spectators or 'ultras' sit.

Verona says nothing happened

When the sometimes controversial Italian international referred to people denying the facts, he might have been thinking of Verona manager Ivan Juric and club president Maurizio Setti. They both insisted nothing happened.

"Balotelli's reaction? I'm not afraid to say it: Today there was nothing," said Juric. "Lots of whistling and teasing against a great player, but there was nothing else. I have also taken so many insults over the years, I know what it means, but today there has been nothing.

"On the reason of the reaction you have to ask him. When there are racist choirs, I will have no problem saying this because they suck even if they come from my fans, but today I haven't heard a single one. We don't create a case where there isn't, it would be a lie!"

However, a report in Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport said a monitor from Italy's football federation was at the game and heard the abuse coming from around 15 fans.

Italy's news agency, ANSA, quoted one 'ultra' as saying Balotelli "is Italian because he has Italian citizenship but he will never be completely Italian."

Verona club president Setti said in a statement that he apologized to Balotelli "in case someone might have said something to him.

"I can confirm that we didn't hear anything," he said. "I arrived in Verona eight years ago and I could immediately see how the Verona fans are ironic, yes, but absolutely not racists,

"When there are episodes of racism we are the first to condemn them, we have always done it, but it's wrong to generalize it, speaking of racist chants and fans, if out of 20,000 people a few might have said something.

"Those two or three people, if there are, we are ready to take them and punish them because I strongly condemn such incidents.

"But talking of Verona if we were stuck 30 years ago is wrong: We're a club and fans that has only sport in its DNA. There are many black guys who wear yellow-blue from Youth to the First Team, racism is a discourse that for us does not exist and Verona is not the right place for such generalizations."

Brescia backs Balotelli

But Brescia backed Balotelli, who has also played for clubs Manchester City, Liverpool, Milan and Inter, and took issue with Verona's stance of attempting to "deny or minimize the gravity of the incident.

"What happened in the affected area of the pitch was not only heard by Brescia's players, but also by the opponents, and presumable by the referee, considering televised images that show teammates, opponents, and referees repeatedly trying to convince Balotelli not to leave the pitch."

A stadium announcement was made saying both teams would leave the field if the abuse didn't stop as the match was halted for a few minutes.

"Brescia football club expresses all its indignation to the fact that, even today, episodes of this kind and of such gravity can occur: this afternoon it happened to one of our players but it could have happened to anyone else, of any team, and the sentence should be as equally firm and determined," added the Brescia statement.

Only a day earlier, a game between Roma and Napoli was briefly suspended after Napoli's highly rated Senegalese defender, Kalidou Koulibaly, was racially abused by a section of Roma fans in the Italian capital.

Like Balotelli, it wasn't the first time it happened to him in Italy.

In another recent incident, Inter's black striker Romelu Lukaku was subjected to monkey chants as he took a penalty at Cagliari in September. The club escaped punishment for the racist abuse for essentially, a lack of evidence.

The Italian football federation didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment about the weekend's events. European governing body UEFA, however, said in an email sent to CNN that the "fight to eliminate racism, discrimination and intolerance from football is a major priority" but added it wasn't within its jurisdiction to deal with incidents in Serie A.

"UEFA can only open disciplinary proceedings for matches which take place within its competitions. For cases of possible discrimination which occur in domestic matches, the relevant national association is the competent body."

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Brescia, meanwhile, sacked manager Eugenio Corini after the loss to Verona due to a string of poor results. Brescia sits third last in Serie A.

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Balotelli suffers racist abuse as incidents continue in Serie A | CNN

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Brescia striker Mario Balotelli threatened to leave the pitch after he was racially abused by opposition Verona fans in the latest episode of racism to afflict Italy's top football division.

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This GIF is from Balotelli's infamous goal against France in the 2012 European Championship

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This video by the Guardian explains the scenario in which Balotelli was confronted by players for punting a ball into the crowd. Little did they know, he was being targeted with racial abuse. Balotelli would end up walking off the pitch protesting the game to continue its play.

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Mario Balotelli convinced to stay on pitch after racist abuse at Verona