Days after allegedly being fired by Brescia, Mario Balotelli was kicked out by the club when he showed up at the facility for training on Tuesday.
Balotelli arrived at the entrance to the Brescia sports center and, after a brief chat with a team employee, left the scene.
“Now they can say that I do not want to train,” said the forward as he left the site.
Balotelli was reportedly fired by his hometown club last week for failing to show up for training with a view to resuming Italian Serie A after being paralyzed by the coronavirus pandemic. The player explained that he had stomach problems.
The Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Balotelli sent another note from a doctor on Monday night to the club, indicating that he had recovered but did not reach a relevant authority in time and that he lacked an insurance policy in case of injury in the training.
Balotelli signed with Brescia – the city where he grew up with his adoptive family – last August and was given an emotional welcome. He had played in numerous clubs in Italy, England and France, without lasting too long in any.
He scored just five goals in 19 Serie A games and gave more to talk about the incidents of racism in which he was involved than by his performances.
During a match against Hellas Verona in November, he was so frustrated with the racist insults that he threw a ball into the stands and threatened to leave.
Balotelli, who was born in Italy to Ghanaian immigrants, was again the target of racist insults during a meeting with Lazio in January.
Last week, he published messages on his Instagram account denouncing police brutality and racism in the United States after the death of George Floyd, an African American who died when a police officer rested his knee on his neck.
If he does not play for the club again, Balotelli, who turns 30 in August, will miss the opportunity to score another five goals and double his salary, according to the terms of the contract.
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