Mario Balotelli was racially abused
during his side's Euro 2012 opener as hundreds of Spain fans made monkey
noises at the Italy striker.
Just
days after reports of the Holland team being on the receiving end of
vile abuse during a training session in Krakow, the latest race storm
has overshadowed Italy's 1-1 draw with the reigning champions.
Balotelli,
who had a frustrating hour on the pitch before being substituted,
threatened before the tournament to walk off if he was abused during a
match.
And
shadow foreign secretary Douglas
Alexander has advised England players to leave the field in protest if
they are targeted by racists when they face France.
He
said: 'I support referees taking the strongest possible action in the
face of racist abuse from the terraces. They have the power to stop the
game. However, if a referee ignored blatant racist abuse, and the
England players or their management felt they were justified in walking
off, they should be supported in their action.'
Photographer Chris Brunskill, a 35-year-old from Liverpool, witnessed the abuse in the 40,000-seater Arena Gdansk in Poland.
He said: 'I was seated behind the goal
with all the Spanish fans behind me and they were involved in monkey
chanting and laughter and mockery whenever Balotelli was on the ball.
'The
ringleaders were two fans who were in fancy dress as Spanish tennis
player Rafa Nadal. But the stewards just seemed to think it was a laugh,
and they did nothing. They seemed to think it was a giggle.
'These
two were at the centre of it in my view but there were hundreds in the
Spanish section joining in. I would say there were around 200-300 who
joined in at times. It was especially bad when Balotelli was involved in
any kind of trouble or altercation, for example when he was booked.
Another photographer, Getty's Michael
Steele from Wells, Somerset, said: 'I could not see who was involved
but it was obvious they were monkey chants. It was disgusting. There is
no excuse for it. I am pretty sure Balotelli knew what was going on and
heard it as he was close to that section of the crowd when he was
booked.
'There were also what sounded like derogatory chants in Spanish with his name involved, but I do not know what they meant.'
Greek
freelance photographer Yiannis Kourtoglou, 31, who lives in Cyprus,
told the Daily Mirror: 'The monkey whoops were from the Spanish end. I
could not see how many people were involved but they were clear.
'They were designed to put him off his game and they clearly worked – he had a terrible match.
'It
was terrible for him and for me as well. He is a human being not a
monkey.' It is still unclear if Balotelli or the Italian bench heard the
abuse but manager Cesare Prandelli previously said he would back his
player in walking off.
Manchester
City star Balotelli, 21, has already been singled out for abuse online
with Italian neo-Nazis claiming he should not be playing for the
national team.
UEFA
have vowed to investigate any racism at the tournament in Poland and
Ukraine and Labour's Mr Alexander insists the players should take a
stand.
He added: 'If
either host country's fans misbehave, the teams could be taken off by
the referee with the home team forfeiting the points. 'Hopefully
something like that might encourage players to challenge their
supporters.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2012/article-2157538/Euro-2012-Mario-Balotelli-suffers-racist-abuse.html#ixzz1zTZ24y3Y
