[dukeofdavinci]

Balotelli in Beijing rage
Friday 9 May, 2008

Inter teen star Mario Balotelli is furious that legal red tape has prevented him representing Italy at this summer’s Olympics.

The 17-year-old has been one of the revelations of the season and is seen as one of the peninsula’s most exciting prospects.

However, despite being born in Palermo, Balotelli isn’t able to become an Italian citizen until his 18th birthday on August 12, which is too late for him to be registered for the Olympic Games in China.

The problems have arise because he is the son of Ghanaian immigrants and has never been officially adopted by the Balotelli family, who were given custody of him by the courts when he was just three.

“The Italian law is unjust and needs to be changed,” the former Lumezzane man raged to the Corriere dello Sport. “I feel like a Second Division citizen.”

Balotelli has already snubbed the chance to represent Ghana because he wants to follow his Azzurri dream.

“Even having been born here, I am still not being recognised as a citizen and I find that to be enormously unjust,” he continued.

“I have turned down an invitation to play for Ghana because I want to wear the Azzurri shirt.

“The reason I did so is because I was born in Italy and I have always lived there, so I feel like an Italian.”

now thats a surprise.well still got loads of time to represent azzurri.