Controversial Italian footballer, Mario Balotelli, has blasted his country’s first black senator, who was elected in Sunday’s general ballot for the far-right, anti-immigrant League party.
Balotelli, who was born in Palermo to Ghanaian parents and has played 33 times for Italy, has long been a target for racist abuse.
The 27-year-old former Manchester City player took to Instagram to target Nigerian-born Toni Iwobi, who was elected in the northern industrial city of Brescia – a major immigration hub.
“Maybe I’m blind or maybe they haven’t told him that he’s black yet. Disgrace!” Balotelli wrote on Tuesday in a post that was subsequently removed.
Iwobi has long argued along with League leader Matteo Salvini that increased racism in Italy should be blamed on illegal immigration.
Balotelli posted a photo showing Iwobi, 60, and Salvini both wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the campaign slogan “Stop invasion”.
The slogan is a reference to the more than 690,000 migrants who have landed on Italian shores from North Africa since 2013.
The League blames the arrivals for “social conflict” and making Italian cities less safe.
Born in Gusau in northern Nigeria, Iwobi came to Italy forty years ago as a student and later married an Italian woman before starting an IT company.
He became a municipal councillor for the League in Spirano in the 1990s and has been the League party’s spokesman on migration since 2014.
“I’m not interested in what Balotelli thinks,” Iwobi said in response. “He’s a great footballer, I hope he sticks to doing what he’s good at.”
