Never in the history of Italian football, has a black guy been on the team. That actually kind of makes sense, given that Italy is not too far behind Japan in its monoethnic nature, but still.
Italian Soccer Fans Deny Existence of One of Their Best Players (Because He’s Black)
↵That might change soon: Mario Balotelli, a 19-year-old Ghanian whose parents immigrated to Italy and gave him up to an Italian family as a child, is one of Italy’s best young stars. He is also, as a club player for Inter Milan, consistently taunted with racist chants at Italian away games. Among them: “A Black Italian does not exist.” Charming.
↵The Smoking Section has more on Balotelli, and it’s well worth the read. Will Italy fans get over their racism and accept Balotelli? Does talent always win out? I guess we’ll see.
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