BALOTELLI, SYMBOL OF NEW ITALY

much-praised head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi.

Yet while he was still playing in Italy, Balotelli, like other black athletes who play here, was subject to racist episodes. When newspapers reported that he had revealed in June after a visit to Auschwitz that one of his adoptive parents was of Jewish heritage, an Italian extreme right group posted unprintable slurs on its web site.

“This past year there were 59 racial incidents during the Italian football championship, almost all of them linked to colour,” said Mauro Valeri, a sociologist and expert in racism in sport.

Fines of more than 400,000 euros were issued, he said. “Even though measures have been implemented to halt the violence, the fact racism persists should make you think.”

Equally telling of Italy’s unresolved issues with immigration has been the resistance among lawmakers to change citizenship legislation, which currently confers birthright citizenship to only children of Italian citizens and not to children of foreign parents born in Italy.

The consequent bureaucracy limits the rights of non-Italian children living here, including Balotelli, who was unable to play for Italy in the 2008 Olympics because he was still a minor, and Ghanaian by nationality. There has been much debate over the citizenship laws, and the Italian president, Giorgio Napolitano, is in favour of giving children born in Italy citizenship.

Balotelli, incidentally, is not the lone beacon of a changing society. Angelo Ogbonna, whose parents are Nigerian, also plays for the Italian national team.

Valeri is among those who hope Balotelli’s visibility will give the citizenship issue new prominence. “Let’s hope we see a Balotelli law,” he said.

By arrangement with International Herald Tribune