12 shades of Mario Balotelli: A look at all the controversies over the years

Ever since Mario Balotelli has burst onto the footballing stage, controversies and unexplained eventshavealways surrounded him. Despite showing flashes of brilliance at times, his career has disappointingly been defined by the frequent shenanigans he has found himself involved in. The games most notorious renegade has a troubling off-field record as well. He has amassedover 10,000 worth of parking tickets and has had his luxury Maserat impounded 27 times.Liverpool have sought assurance that Super Mario will behave himself after having recently agreed ona16 million deal for him with AC Milan, and the striker must accept agood behaviour clause to complete the signing. Manager Brendan Rodgers puts stock in having the right characters in his dressing room, and Balotelli is seemingly prepared to turn over a new leaf Today is my last day at Milan, he was quoted as telling Sky Italia.Balotelli had once admitted that he sometimes does strange things; andat another time thatnobody could understand the reasons behind his actions because nobody had been through what he had. Therefore, it is just about possible that Liverpool will find themselves regretting their latest transfer move, one which makes them the biggest spender in thistransfer window. Following is a look at the kind of year they might have to face in the event that the typically non-conformist Italian decides to keep up his antics.

#1 Car Crashes and Womens\' Prisons (August-October 2010)

Balotelli’s move to England put him in a lot of suddenly-gained limelight and he went on a stunt-filled rampage in his first few months as a Manchester City player.

He crashed his Audi N8 on way to City’s training ground, and was found to be carrying £5000 in cash at the time of the accident. On being quizzed about it by the police, he explained – "I am rich.'' He had a run-in with the Italian authorities soon after, after he took his brother with him to investigate the grounds of Brescia women’s prison. He said that the existence of women inmates intrigued him and he had wanted to have a closer look.

#2 Homesickness (January 2011)

After a match against his old team Inter Milan, Balotelli gave a controversial interview to an Italian TV crew revealing that he was sick of living in Manchester and that he missed his home and family. He did not leave it at that, he also continued expressing doubts about whether he would play for the rest of his contract.

I dont like the city. With the boss and the rest of the team Im OK but the city is not upto my taste. Liverpool must be hoping and wishing he shall find Scousers vastly different from natives of Manchester.

#3 Throwing Darts (March 2011)

Balotelli has peculiar ways of entertaining himself as well. Bored one morning, he decided to throw darts at Manchester City youth team players from a first-floor window. Fortunately, there were no injuries and Balotelli got off without punishment. Everybody seemed to realize there was more mischief where that came from, and decided to not stir up the hornet’s nest.

Fans even made a song with the lines – “He's good at darts(1) He’s allergic to grass (2) but when he plays/He's fucking class”.

#4 Training Ground Bust Up (May 2011)

Balotelli’s earlier claim that the only thing that kept him sane at Manchester were the relationships with teammates, was belied by an altercation with Aleksandar Kolarov. Unsavoury pictures of Balotelli squaring up to the senior player surfaced, and we were reminded of a similar incident with Jerome Boateng the previous year, which had then been downplayed as a mock fight.

#5 Mafia Allegations (September 2011)

Photographs showed that the 20 year old Balotelli was shown around acrime-ridden Italian inner city estate called Scampia by two Mafia bosses,Salvatore Silvestri and Biagio Esposito. His agent explained away the revealing pictures saying that he had only wanted to satisfy his curiosity. He was summoned toa high-profile legal case in Italy, where he said he had once happened to standabout 10 meters from a table which contained bags of drugs on it, and claimed ignorance about Silvestri and Espositos Camorra links.

#6 Clashing with Teammate and Breaking Curfew Hours(December 2011)

In typical rule-breaking style, Mario went directly agaisnt manager Roberto Mancini’s express orders of a 48-hour pre-match curfew by hitting a late-night curry spot in Manchester. There was no attempt at stealth about his little misdemeanour either, he went about signing autographs and taking pictures in front of the restaurant.

Soon after, yet another incident of a training-ground row surfaced with Micah Richards being the other party on this occassion. The defender had to be restrained by the other teammates and Roberto Mancini, after being severely displeased with a comment made by the Italian.

#7 Stomping on Heads(January 2012)

TV videos showed Balotelli stomping a boot on the head of a prostrate Scott Parker. The referee missed the 83^rd minute moment during a Manchester City vs Tottenham Hotspur match, which was decided by a Balotelli penalty in injury time.

The FA did not miss the intentional back heel into Parker’s head, and handed him a 4 match ban for violent conduct.

#8 Four Red Cards in a Season(April 2012)

A shocking knee-high challenge on Alex Song in a match against Arsenal earned Balotelli his fourth red card of the season and again a three match ban from the FA. Mancini finally lost patience with his precocious but irreverrent striker and Balotelli was to make only one more appearance for the club – as a late substitute in the last game of the season, a title-deciding match against QPR.

He provided the assist to the 94^th minute goal which gave the title to Manchester City under dramatic circumstances.

#9 Coming to Blows with Mancini

The final blow to any chance Balotelli might have had in staying at Manchester came with reports of a training-ground altercation with none other than manager Roberto Mancini. The club’s support staff had to intervene to separate the pair. The coach had told off his player for a dangerous tackle made on Scott Sinclair, to which Balotelli reacted angrily and turned on him.

#10 2 Yellow Cards in 4 Minutes(June 2013)

Balotelli brought disgrace to his Italy shirt as well, managing to make two bookable offences within a span of four minutes during a World Cup qualifying match against Czech Republic. Disappointed at having his outing terminated prematurely, Balotelli threw a crazy temper tantrum in the tunnel.

#11 Tears into TV Pundits(April 2014)

Balotelli has matured somewhat during his years playing for AC Milan, a hint of which can be found from the number of personal reflections he has made. The capers he gets up to are no more childish acts of impudence, but come across as attempts to get justice for a lifetime of unjustified criticism.

He flew off the handle in a post-match interview after a defeat to Roma, dealing with questions from TV analysts with the riposte,”You don't understand anything about football”. He then threw down the microphone and stormed off cameras.

#12 Posing with Guns(July 2014)

The amount of censure he has had to face over the course of his troubled career is bound to have had rammifications. This could well be a decisive stage of Balotelli’s career, from where he either suddenly turns into a responsible team player, or plummets down the depths of depravity.

The pressure on him was clear for all to see when he posted (and subsequently deleted) a picture on social media showing him pointing a gun at the camera with the accompanying message "a big kiss to all the haters."

Only one thing is for certain – England has been a much duller place without Mario Balotelli’s presence.