Did you Know?

Mario Balotelli was born in Palermo, Sicily, as the son of Ghanaian immigrants. The family moved to Bagnolo Mella in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, when he was two. In 1993, when he was three, Balotelli was placed in foster care to the Balotelli family when his own family was unable to pay for his health care needs. His foster parents are Silvia, the Jewish daughter of Holocaust survivors, and Francesco Balotelli. They lived in the town of Concesio, Brescia, in northern Italy. At first, he stayed at the Balotellis during the weekdays and returned to his biological parents on weekends. He later was permanently fostered by the Balotellis full-time and adopted their surname. In June 2012, he dedicated his goals that put Italy in the final of the Euro 2012 football championships to his foster mother Silvia. Balotelli had to wait until his 18th birthday to request Italian citizenship, as his foster family had not adopted him. He officially gained citizenship in Concesio on 13 August 2008. After the ceremony he released the following statement: “I am Italian, I feel Italian, I will forever play with the Italian national team”. Mario has three biological siblings: Abigail, Enoch and Angel Barwuah. Enoch Barwuah, two years younger than Balotelli, is also a professional footballer.

Did you Know?

Balotelli is nicknamed “Super Mario” after the Italian video game character Mario from the iconic Nintendo series. Balotelli has been given a reputation by the media for being a difficult character and taking part in questionable and often amusing activities. He was once described by José Mourinho as “unmanageable”. In June 2010, Balotelli and a group of friends fired air pistols in the open in Milan’s Piazza della Repubblica. Although denying he is “crazy” as his mentor Roberto Mancini frequently claims, Balotelli has admitted he “sometimes does strange things”. In 2010, he was photographed in the company of two noted Mafia mobsters. Balotelli gained a cult following after joining Manchester City. Manchester City supporters regularly sang a song with lyrics which made reference to his activities. Musician Tinchy Stryder recorded a song in Balotelli’s honour, “Mario Balotelli”. Balotelli has been the subject of numerous newspaper stories since joining Manchester City; some have been confirmed as true while others have turned out to be erroneous. Within days of joining Manchester City, Balotelli was involved in a car crash. It was reported Balotelli was carrying £5,000 cash at the time, and that when a police officer asked why he had such a large sum of cash, Balotelli replied, “Because I am rich.” Off-field activities involving Balotelli have included driving into a women’s prison in Italy to “have a look round”, and throwing darts at a youth team player during a training ground “prank” – all of which have been confirmed to be true. Balotelli has also been subjected to tabloid rumours about him confronting a bully in a school after querying why a young Manchester City fan was not attending classes, and giving £1,000 to a homeless man on the streets of Manchester. Both of these reports turned out to be false. Video footage before Manchester City’s UEFA Europa League match with Dynamo Kyiv in March 2011 showed Balotelli requiring assistance to put on a training bib, an incident which teammate Edin Džeko was seen mimicking the following week in the warm up before City’s match at Chelsea. In September 2011, Balotelli was reportedly seen using his iPad while on the substitutes’ bench for Italy during their match with the Faroe Islands, although he denied this on a visit to a prison later that week. Balotelli celebrated his goal against Manchester United in October 2011 by unveiling a shirt with the words, “Why always me?” on it, a celebration which seemingly disputes the accuracy of newspaper reports. The day before the match, Balotelli and his friends set Balotelli’s house on fire when a firework was let off in it; later that week, Balotelli was unveiled as Greater Manchester’s ambassador for firework safety. On 5 November 2011, at the annual fireworks display at Edenbridge, Kent, a 12-metre tall bonfire effigy of Balotelli was unveiled, complete with a Super Mario hat, a house in the right hand and a “Giant TNT” firework in his left, which were reference to his recent incident. In December 2011, Balotelli broke a 48-hour curfew before Manchester City’s match against Chelsea to go to a curry house, although he “was not drinking alcohol, signed autographs, posed for pictures with fellow diners and was involved in a mock sword-fight using rolling pins”. The club launched an internal investigation. In March 2012, when Inter Milan (Balotelli’s former club) held a press conference for their new manager Andrea Stramaccioni, Balotelli gatecrashed the event. In December 2012, Balotelli was due to take Manchester City to a Premier League tribunal to protest against a fine of two weeks’ wages over his poor disciplinary record, but eventually dropped his application a day before the hearing. On 1 December 2014, Balotelli was accused of racism and antisemitism for posting an image on Instagram of the video game character Mario. The image promoted anti-racism by telling others to be like the character, attributing him qualities stereotypically associated with different ethnicities, ending the idea that he “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew”. In response to criticisms, he wrote, “My Mom is jewish so all of u shut up please.”