The Balotelli Question: No Blacks Allowed?

The Outsider

In nearly any other country on the planet, Mario Balotelli would be considered one of the most promising young football talents around. In fact, in most countries he would most likely be named one of the strikers, and possibly even a member of a national squad’s starting XI, come the World Cup next summer. Too bad the young black phenom is Italian.

Some might think the previous comment strange. Some may even think it racist (on two counts). Allow me to begin by stating the following. Being of Italian heritage is fantastic. The food, the art, the history, the landscape… the football, is all, in my humble opinion, among the best in the world . But if you toss all of that aside for just a moment and process all of the information you know about the history of Italian football, the culture and the general (fascist based) xenophobia that has become ingrained in the society, the aforementioned will become crystal clear.

No black player has ever been selected to an Italian World Cup squad. That’s right…never. In this case, it’s not even a question of excluding immigrant or naturalized players. Balotelli was born in Palermo, Sicily and was adopted at the age of 6 months by a local couple who raised them as they did their own. He speaks the ‘Siciliano’ dialect of Palermo as his first language. He considers himself just as Italian as any of his counterparts, yet many still view him as an outsider. According to one of the chants ringing through the stands at Stadio Delli Alpi in Torino: Negros are not Italian.

To that end, Ghana is attempting to use the above as a cattle prod, insisting that Super Mario join the Black Stars and play for the country of his ancestors. Ghanaian captain Stephen Appiah, midfielder Michael Essien and coach  Milovan Rajevac have all implored the starlet to join their team, stating that Ghana is the right place for him to start his international career. They claim that should he choose to play for the Azzurri he will be heckled in much the same manner as he is currently at Inter by the Romani, Milanese and Juventini tifosi in Serie A. Taunting that includes: racial slurs on banners in the stands; being pelted by bananas in a cafe in Rome; and a reported general disrespect of his person by both players and coaching staff alike throughout the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio. (As a side note – Dear Ghana: Piss off about this already, its clear that if one had their choice in this particular situation, Italy would win hands down… every single time.)

Unfortunately, what has made matters even worse for the 19 year old is the fact that Marcelo Lippi has neglected to say whether or not he will select Balotelli for the Italian side that travels to South Africa. Lippi claims that this has everything to do with his fears that Super Mario is not yet mature enough to handle this sort of spot light, and that his on, and off field, antics stand to be a serious distraction for the defending world champions, and nothing to do with the prospect of being the first Italian manager in history to select a non-white player to the Azzurri world cup roster.

Inter Fans Got Over It... So Can The Italians

As an avid supporter of the Azzurri, and a person of Italian heritage, I am both disgusted that the young striker’s ethnicity/colour remains such a topic of contention in ‘Bella Italia’, and frightened that my beloved squad stands to lose out on perhaps the greatest striking talent to rise from that sunny peninsula since Roberto Baggio.

Yes he is abrasive, loud, wildly outspoken, a prominent complainer and a self-proclaimed adonis, yet his skill and potential wipe all of that away in a heartbeat, if he is only given the opportunity. Come to think of it, I am reminded of a Cristiano somebody, and there is this English guy, Beckham, I think his name is… catch my drift?

To all of the skeptical footy fans, and to Italians in general, I leave you with one final thought on Super Mario. Centre-right politician Gianfranco Fini put it best when describing the young dynamo: “He is pure talent. Genuis and lack of restraint all in one. What could be more Italian than that?’