Former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and his brother Paolo are under scrutiny over maverick Italy striker Mario Balotelli, with one accused of racism and the other of signing him for their club AC Milan only to win votes in this month’s national election.
Paolo Berlusconi, AC Milan’s vice president, was lambasted in social media after calling former Manchester City forward Balotelli “the little black boy of the family.”
A video of his comments, made on Sunday after a political event, was going viral after it was posted on various Web sites.
“And now let’s go and watch the little black boy of the family, the crazy head,” Paolo Berlusconi says in the video.
A spokesman for the Serie A club said yesterday there would be no comment on the video, which was recorded on the day Balotelli made his debut for AC Milan after being transferred from English Premier League club City last month.
Criticism of Paolo Berlusconi’s remarks took off after foreign media began writing about the video, which had received relatively little attention in the Italian press in the past few days.
“Balotelli is back in Italy for 2 minutes and already had racist comments made about him. Why do black players even play in Italy?” one person tweeted.
While Paolo was taking the heat for his comments, Silvio Berlusconi was still under fire over his motivation for bringing the hot-tempered Balotelli back to Italy in the first place, having previously said Milan did not need a “rotten apple.”
For the past week, Silvio Berlusconi has been the regular butt of jokes by comedians and attacks by his political rivals over the transfer, which they see as a clear attempt to woo Italian soccer fans to vote for his center-right coalition.
Last week L’Unita, the paper of the main center-left party, said nationwide fans of Milan could influence about 1.3 percent of the vote.
Taiwanese gymnast Tang Chia-hung on Sunday topped the men’s horizontal bar event at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Cup in Osijek, Croatia, scoring 15.233 to take his third title this season. Tang delivered an outstanding performance in the final, earning a difficulty score of 6.500 and an execution score of 8.633 with a 0.1 stick bonus. His closest competitor was Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, who finished second with 14.933 points. It was Tang’s third gold medal in the FIG World Cup series this year, following his horizontal bar wins in Azerbaijan on March 8, and in Turkey on March
The Daredevils yesterday took eight catches in the final as they eked out a victory in the Taiwan Cricket Triangular Tournament against PCCT at Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District. PCCT’s batting lineup collapsed after they asked the Daredevils to bowl in the T20 decider of the weekend tournament that also involved the Formosa Cricket Club. PCCT were bundled out for 76 in 16.2 overs against a disciplined Daredevils attack. Ninad Malwade was the top scorer in the innings with 21, but he was among those who offered chances to the fielders. Shane Ferreira and Jason Cameron took three wickets each, with
This year’s Taiwan Athletics Open, which offers Taiwanese athletes an opportunity to compete against their international peers, would be held under a new name after its organizers had earlier announced the event’s cancelation. In a statement issued yesterday, the Chinese Taipei Athletics Association said the competition would still take place on June 6-7 at Banciao Stadium, but under the name “New Taipei City Athletics Open 2026.” The event was given a new name to emphasize its local identity and conform with the international practice of naming World Athletics Tour events after cities, the association said. It said it would soon
Taiwanese shortstop Cheng Tsung-che on Friday made history for the Boston Red Sox’s Triple A affiliate, hitting the Worcester Red Sox’s first cycle, while netting two runs, as they beat fellow Taiwan teammate Stuart Fairchild’s Columbus Clippers. The 24-year-old former Pittsburgh Pirates prospect went 4-4, completing a full cycle, starting with a triple in the second inning off Ryan Webb in the WooSox’s 9-3 victory over the Cleveland Guardians’ Triple A affiliate. He scored in the same inning after teammate Vinny Capra, a fellow former Pirate, grounded out. The Pingtung County native followed that up with a walk in the third, an
RSS