Footballer Mario Balotelli has been the subject of a racist remark by the president of his own club.The 29-year-old striker has struggled since returning to the Italian league with Brescia, his hometown club, and is reported to have had explosive rows with coach Fabio Grosso.Asked about Balotelli's troubles on Monday, Brescia president Massimo Cellino said: "He's black, what can I say, he's working on clearing himself but he's having a lot of difficulty."Image:Massimo Cellino made the derogatory comment on MondayThe comment marks the latest discriminatory incident of a Serie A season that has been tainted with racist chants directed at players and other offensive behaviour.Mr Cellino's comment was later downplayed by the club, which released a statement calling it a "paradoxical joke".Brescia added that the comment was "clearly misunderstood" and "released in an attempt to defuse excessive media exposure and with intent to protect the player himself".Earlier this month, Balotelli was the target of racist chants during a match at Hellas Verona - which was suspended for several minutes when he threatened to leave the field and angrily kicked the ball into the stands.Balotelli also experienced racism at the beginning of his career where he rose to prominence with Inter Milan.In recent months, derogatory chants have also been aimed at Romelu Lukaku, Franck Kessie, Dalbert Henrique, Miralem Pjanic, Ronaldo Vieira and Kalidou Koulibaly in the Serie A league.In 2018, Balotelli signed a "multi-year contract" with Brescia on a free transfer.
He signed for a base salary of 1.5m (1.3m) before bonuses for one year.Image:Balotelli reacts to racist chants from Verona fans during the Serie A match between Hellas Verona and Brescia Past managers and teammates have criticised him for having an immature attitude at times, as well as a volatile temperament on the pitch.While playing for Inter Milan, he famously had a strained relationship with manager Jose Mourinho and was suspended from Inter's first team in January 2009.Balotelli rejoined Serie A after three years in the French league, however he has not been able to help Brescia climb out of last place.The club have earned just seven points from 12 games, with Balotelli scoring them two goals in seven games."I bought (Balotelli) because I thought he could add something to the squad," Mr Cellino said."But due to overexposure we've made him become a weakness.
If we continue to talk about Balotelli we'll be hurting both him and ourselves."