Why Always Me? - The Biography of Mario Balotelli, City's Legendary Striker. Frank Worrall
asked a psychotherapist friend to comment on Mario’s situation. She said, ‘It is not hard to see that he would have problems growing up. He must have suffered a sort of double identity crisis. On the one hand, he didn’t know who were his real parents and would feel confusion and maybe guilt at choosing one over the other. Plus there would be anger at his biological parents for giving him away.
‘Then you have the scenario of a black boy growing up in a white family. That must have also been confusing for him and he would surely get angry and defensive at being racially abused by other kids – although I am sure his new family would be loving and supportive. It all points to a young man with problems underneath the surface – anger, resentment, confusion and sadness – and all it would take would be something surrounding his situation for those simmering problems to boil over. I would imagine he could fly off the handle very easily. He might ultimately need therapy to “bring closure” to his upbringing and to help him cope emotionally with life. He might need cognitive help to bring his temper under control and to put a lid on those demons.’
At this stage, I must declare my indebtedness to Nick Pisa, the British journalist who operates for the UK press from Italy. Pisa has delved beneath the surface to uncover the problems Mario faced as a youngster – and all the quotes in this chapter are included courtesy of him. Pisa learned at first hand in Italy of the tug-of-war between the Barwuahs and the Balotellis that would lead to a breakdown of relations between Mario and his birth family.
Pisa says, ‘According to Mario he was abandoned by his parents in hospital when he was two years old. It’s a claim Thomas and Rose deny adamantly.
‘I tracked down Thomas and Rose to their third floor council flat at Bagnolo Mella, where they live with their three other children Abigail, 22, Enoch, 17, and Angel, 11.
‘Both Thomas and Rose have remained in the shadows ever since Mario hit the big time when he made his debut for Inter Milan at just 17 years old – after being turned down by Spanish giants Barcelona. Metal worker Thomas was close to tears as he proudly showed me pictures of young Mario as a baby and toddler growing up in the Sicilian city of Palermo before they moved north to Brescia.’
Pisa says Thomas and Rose were stunned when they learned that Mario had claimed they had let him down – Thomas told Nick, ‘Mario was convinced we had abandoned him in a hospital but that’s not true.’ They were further shocked when Mario was reported to have said, “My real parents only want to know me now I am famous”.’
Thomas told Pisa, ‘I’m so fed up with Mario. How can he say we just want to know him for his money – it’s not true – we gave him all the love we could.
‘We have never spoken out because we didn’t want to ruin his career but now enough is enough. I am fed up with Mario saying we abandoned him and I am fed up with him saying we just want his money.’
Pisa says, ‘Certainly photographs dotted around the house are testimony of what appears to have been a happy normal childhood – Mario playing football, Mario in a suit at a family function, Mario play fighting his brother as Rose looks on. Thomas showed another photograph of Mario holding a football standing next to a three-year-old friend and said: “That picture was taken after he had spent hours playing football in the rain. We were at a friend’s house in Vicenza and when the boys came in they were soaked but they were laughing and joking despite being wet and my friend said to Mario, “You really are Super Mario” and it’s the name we gave him.’
Thomas added, ‘You can see why we loved him and we still love him now, that’s why I get so angry when I hear he’s said these things about us. We don’t want any money. We are Christians and every morning I thank God that I have my legs, my arms, my body and that I can work and provide for my family. We are not bothered about money because the more money you have then you lose respect for God. I’m happy with what I have and don’t want anything, I just want us to get on.’
Thomas also said that during Mario’s four years at Inter his son had only invited him to watch him play once and that was when they played Chelsea in the Champions League.
Thomas said: ‘He turned up one day with four tickets and he gave them to his brother – I asked if I could come and watch and he said that Enoch had the tickets and he could do what he wanted with them. I don’t want anything from him. I just want us to get on – now he is going to England and he will become even more famous. I don’t think I will go there to see him – maybe his brother or his sisters will go but we won’t go. He is not the same boy I knew when he was younger always laughing and smiling, he was trouble but in a good way.’
Thomas also described to Nick Pisa how he and his wife were not even invited to the ceremony when Mario was made an Italian citizen on his 18th birthday, saying: ‘We didn’t know anything about that until we saw it on the news. I didn’t even know that he had taken the surname Balotelli. I thought he would still have our surname but he chose not to take it – I wish I knew why he is treating us like this.’
Thomas added, ‘I saw him earlier this month and he told us that he would be moving to Manchester and like any father would I wish him well. I was so proud when he joined Inter and I am still proud of him I just want us to be how we were.’
Nick Pisa would later also uncover a split between Mario and his big sister, Abigail Barwuah. She would add to her father’s criticisms, saying he had failed to keep in touch with his natural family over the years. Abigail added that he was risking his career after a series of high-profile incidents at City and she would echo the pleas of City manager Roberto Mancini and the Italian national coach Cesare Prandelli that her brother should ‘take it easy’ or risk ‘throwing his career away.’
Abigail had become angry after she claimed Mario had shunned her as well as his parents. A month earlier, she had been voted off Italy’s version of I’m A Celebrity: Get Me Out of Here! and she slammed her brother for not taking part in studio calls from Rome to the island off Honduras where the reality show was taking place.
She stormed: ‘My brother has really disappointed me. It’s clear to me that I don’t mean anything to him. He didn’t come into the studio, he didn’t make a phone call and even his family haven’t seen him. He is very self centred, maybe he doesn’t want me to use him but I can make it on my own. I’m glad that I have shown I am not like him.
‘He needs to try and calm down. I can’t justify his behaviour anymore. He is nearly 21 years old and he is putting his career at risk.’
Abigail said: ‘I was away for six weeks with the show and I never heard a word from him – when I speak about my siblings I’m talking only about Enoch and Angel. After being on I’m A Celebrity I realised that Mario didn’t care about me. He could have come into the studio, just once to give me some support, even just a telephone call. He didn’t do it during the show and he didn’t do it afterwards – I haven’t heard a thing from him. In six weeks that I was away he didn’t even call to ask how I was, he didn’t even call to see how his family were and Angel doesn’t want to see him. Maybe he is annoyed that someone else in the family is famous. I’ve asked myself why he is like he is but I can’t find an answer. Mario has never bothered to help me, even when he became famous and I don’t mean financially. I have never been bothered about his money.’
Abigail then added: ‘In the past when he was having a rough time I was there for him. I was there for him when everyone attacked him but now he is certainly not going to get any help from me any more. I’m sorry for what’s happened to him but now he has to grow up. He is nearly 21 years old and he needs to start thinking. He cannot carry on with his Balotelli escapades – it’s one thing to do them when you are 18 but it’s another thing doing them now. It’s time he calmed down otherwise he is really putting his career at risk. I’m glad that by taking part in I’m A Celebrity I’ve proved that our family is educated and I am not liking him.’
When asked if she would like to see her brother again Abigail said: ‘I don’t want to see him now. He has really disappointed me. He doesn’t deserve my love and he doesn’t deserve to be considered a brother.’