Italian League: Balotelli hits back in racism row

Milan, Italy - Mario Balotelli on Monday reacted with anger after the head of Verona's hard core ultras fans group fuelled the racism row by denying any abuse had been directed at the Brescia forward who he said could not even be considered Italian.

Italian international Balotelli scored in a 1-2 Italian League defeat on Sunday but his performance was overshadowed by his fury at monkey chants from a section of Verona's supporters.

But Verona's supporters group leader Luca Castellini insisted their fans were not racist.

"Balotelli's a clown. He only heard it in his own head," Castellini told Radio Cafe on Monday. "We have a cultural identity of a certain kind," Castellini continued.

"We're an irreverent fan base, who make fun of bald players, ones with long hair, southern players and the ones of colour, but we don't do it with political or racist instincts.

"The chants came from only four people, who were only heard by the people who recorded the video."

Despite denials of abuse from Verona, a video published on Twitter by a fan showed a number of supporters directing abuse at Balotelli before the forward booted the ball at them in the stands.

And in a late development on Tuesday, Verona was given a one-match partial stadium closure for monkey cries from its fans directed at Balotelli during the game at the weekend.

The 29 year old, who was born in Palermo to Ghanaian parents but was raised just outside Brescia, had to be held back by players from both teams to stop him leaving the pitch.

Castellini added that the 36-time capped international could not even be considered Italian. "Balotelli's Italian because he has Italian citizenship,

but he can never be completely Italian," continued Castellini.

That prompted Balotelli to reply on Instagram: "Here, my friends, this has nothing to do with football anymore.

"You are implying about a social and historical situation much bigger than you smallminded people. You guys are losing it. Wake up, you ignorant people."

Balotelli added: "But when Mario scored and still guarantees to score goals for Italy, you were fine with it?"

When asked if Verona fans were racist, Castellini added: "We have a negro in our team and he scored yesterday and all of Verona applauded."

Castellini was referring to Verona forward Eddie

Salcedo.

Verona president Maurizio Setti said on Sunday that his club's supporters were 'light-hearted, not racist' and were a crowd with 'real sport in its DNA'.

"We are the first to condemn racism but it is wrong to generalise... Maybe two or three people among 20,000 fans might have said something."

The match was suspended for a few minutes as Balotelli tried to leave the pitch before a message was read out on the stadium loudspeaker threatening that both teams would leave the field if there was a repeat of any abuse, a message that was whistled loudly by a large number of the home fans.

Brescia, meanwhile, sacked its 49 year old coach Eugenio Corini on Sunday after its seventh defeat in ten games.