Mario Balotelli Claims He Would've Had Fewer Career Problems If He Were White
Mario Balotelli has claimed if he were white he would have endured fewer problems in his career, although he admitted not all his career issues have been due to his skin color.
The 27-year-old has featured for some of the biggest clubs in Europe, enjoying spells at Inter Milan, Manchester City, Liverpool and AC Milan before joining Nice in 2016. Also, the Italian frontman has represented his country 33 times, netting 13 goals in the process.
However, while speaking to French outlet SoFoot, as quoted by The Mirror, the ex-Premier League talisman insisted he has encountered more issues throughout his playing career because he is black.
"In some stadiums, people chanted 'There are no black Italians' at me, yet I am the proof that there are", he said. "Even if I am Italian, born and raised in Italy, the law states I only became Italian once I reached the age of 18.
"The law is wrong, and that is perhaps why to this day some people see black as the color of diversity, of inferiority, of an error in the middle of a team photograph.
"I think that if I had been white, I'd have had fewer problems. Perhaps I did cause some of my own problems and had the wrong attitude at times, but would I have been forgiven quicker? Absolutely yes."
Although many campaigns are battling for equality in the world of both sport and on a grander scale, racially-charged accusations are still at the forefront of many people's agenda.
Sol Campbell, for example, in 2014, labeled the English Football Association "institutionally racist" in his autobiography while Southend United manager Chris Powell claimed more recently a generation of black and Asian managers was lost because of discrimination within the game.
