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Balotelli says he was target of racial abuse at Bastia-Nice match

Balck Italian footballer Mario Balotelli, now playing with French team Nice, bitterly denounced racist chanting against him by fans of Corsican team Bastia, who he says directed monkey imitations at him during the Ligue 1 match between the two sides.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

Mario Balotelli has revealed he was racially abused during Nice's 1-1 draw with Bastia on Friday night, reports The Independent.

The Italian forward has been outstanding for the Côte D'Azur side since signing in the summer, leading their title charge.

But after dropping points in Corsica against their hated rivals they are now just a point ahead of second-placed Monaco and Balotelli revealed that the home fans had racially abused him throughout the Ligue 1 encounter.

"I have a question for French people.." he posted on his Instagram page.

"Is it normal that Bastia supporters make monkey noise end ‘uh uh’ for the whole game and no one of the ‘commissions discipline’ say nothing?

"So is racism LEGAL in France? Or only in Bastia ?

"Football is an amazing sport .. those people like Bastia supporters make it horrible!"

Balotelli then wrote "a true disgrace" in French and Italian, accompanying a blank, black picture.

In 2013, after being racially abused by Roma fans while playing for AC Milan, Balotelli said that if it happened again then he would leave the field.

"I always said that if it [racism] happened in the stadium I will just do like 'nobody says nothing and I don't care,'" Balotelli told CNN.

See more of this report from The Independent.