Brescia President’s Racist Balotelli Remark Causes Controversy
Brescia president Massimo Cellino has found himself in the headlines once again after controversially referring to Mario Balotelli’s rocky situation at the club as “black”.
Balotelli had been dropped for the Serie A side’s clash with Roma on Sunday following a training ground incident that saw coach Fabio Grosso kick the striker out of the session, with Grosso hinting later at a press conference that his charge simply was not putting in enough effort.
“I demand great intensity and a high tempo in my training sessions,” the Italian said at the time. “When that doesn’t happen, I prefer to change and make the session tougher. He didn’t do that and was set to one side. At a certain point, he has to help himself.”
Appearing on Monday at a Serie A assembly, however, Cellino was asked to comment on the former Inter man’s situation, and sparked controversy due to the choice of words used.
“What do you want me to say about him,” the president began. “He’s black. He’s working to lighten up but he’s having difficulty. We can’t think that one player alone will save the squad. That would be wrong for the team.”
The debate arose out of Cellino’s use of ‘nero’, a word that could mean ‘gloomy’ as well as ‘black’, while ‘schiarirsi’ can be interpreted as ‘lighten up’ as well as ‘clear up’.
