Roberto Mancini: Mario Balotelli Needs Form, Won't Get Anti-Racism Italy Call-Up

Italy boss Roberto Mancini said on Monday that if he calls up Mario Balotelli to the national side, it will be because his form warrants it rather than using his selection as an anti-racism message.

Mancini discussed Balotelli, who was racially abused by some Hellas Verona supporters on November 3, after Italian football federation president Gabriele Gravina suggested calling him up to send a message to fans.

Per the Associated Press (via ESPN), Manicini said:

"Football and sport should unite, not destroy. We're in 2020 and we're still talking about skin colour. I wish Mario nothing but well, he's still of an age to do a lot. But if he should be recalled, it will be because he is doing well and can help the national team.

"You can think like the president said, but you need to understand that if Balotelli gets another chance, it will be because he deserves it from a technical point of view. I think it's more important to call him if he deserves it."

Eurosport's Siavoush Fallahi similarly felt it would not be productive to call up Balotelli as a means of combating racism:

The striker was subjected to monkey chants at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona's 2-1 win over his Brescia side.

After kicking the ball into the crowd in response, Balotelli began to leave the pitch. He was eventually persuaded to continue playing by his team-mates, while the referee halted the match so an announcement could be read out over the public address system.

The 29-year-old spoke out against the abuse after the match:

Serie A sanctioned Verona with a partial stadium closure, per ESPN FC's Andrew Cesare:

The club also banned Lucas Castellini, their head ultra, until 2030. He told Radio Cafe (h/t the Guardian) that Balotelli "can never be completely Italian" and said he only heard the abuse "in his own head." He added that Verona "also have a negro in our team who scored yesterday, and all of the Verona fans applauded him."

Rather than defend their player, Brescia's ultras sided with their Verona counterparts against Balotelli:

Inter Milan's ultras did the same when Romelu Lukaku was racially abused by Cagliari fans earlier in the season.

Football writer Kaustubh Pandey called out the Brescia supporters for their actions:

After three years out of the national side, Balotelli made three appearances for Italy under Mancini—who coached him at Inter Milan and Manchester City—in 2018, scoring once.

He earned his call-up having scored 43 goals in 66 appearances for OGC Nice across the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons.

Balotelli joined Marseille in January after failing to score in 10 matches for Nice in the first half of last season.

The forward then moved to Brescia in the summer after his six-month spell with Marseille, where he scored eight goals in 15 appearances. He's scored twice in seven games for Brescia this season.

On that form, it would be hard to justify his selection ahead of Ciro Immobile or Andrea Belotti. The former has 16 goals and five assists in 16 games for Lazio this season, while the latter has 13 and two in 18 outings for Torino.