Following further racist incidents at a Hellas Verona game last weekend, the leader of the club’s ultras group has attempted to defend it by launching a nonsensical attack on Mario Balotelli.
After the Brescia striker was subjected to monkey chants during his side’s loss on Sunday, he kicked the ball into the curva, where those guilty were situated.
In an unbelievable interview with Radio Cafe, Luca Castellini of the club’s ultras has attempted to round the blame on Balotelli, who he claimed should not even be considered completely Italian.
“Balotelli is finished as a player and decided to perform an act of clownery, spurred on by someone or something, and kick the ball at the curva,” stated Castellini.
“Next year he won’t even be playing football and will just be a prima donna on TV. He gets bothered in Verona because we sing ‘Mario, Mario’ and he prefers to be insulted.
“He has defamed Verona. There were people who aimed monkey chants at him, maybe seven or 10 people. We have a certain cultural identity and we make fun of players, whether it is because they have long hair, are from the south of Italy or are of colour.
“But we don’t do so with racist or political intent. Just wait and see what the authorities do. We will not be punished. Those monkey chants were made by four people who could only be heard by the person who made the video.
“Balotelli heard voices in his own head. He is Italian because he has Italian citizenship but he’ll never be fully Italian. Are our fans racist? We had a n****r in our team who scored [Eddie Salcedo].
“We all applauded him. Is there a problem with the word n****r? Will the police come and get me if I say it?”
Lost amid the disgusting events at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi on Sunday was the fact that Verona picked up an important three points, while Brescia sacked Eugenio Corini following the loss.
