After just 12 months, Mario Balotelli’s short but fiery adventure with Swiss side FC Sion has come to an end, and local reports revealed an unbelievable moment during his time at the club.
The 32-year-old Italian striker shined at Turkish side Adana Demirspor in the 2021-22 campaign, netting 18 goals in 31 league appearances, and he decided to make the jump back to western Europe at the end of that season.
Balotelli was sold to FC Sion for around €2.62m in August of last year. His arrival was much anticipated at the Swiss side and he arrived to much fanfare, but it didn’t take long for things to go array for the striker.
In early September, Balotelli was filmed seemingly staggering out of nightclub in the early hours of the morning. Sion released a statement defending him and he quickly started to impress, scoring four goals in four consecutive games in October.
It didn’t take long for the Italian striker to be the centre of controversy again, however. In November, he suggested that ‘injustice, corruption and incompetence reign supreme’ in the Swiss league after being suspended for showing his middle finger to a jeering fan in a 0-0 draw with FC Basel.
The next month, at a winter training camp in Marbella, a drunk Balotelli allegedly urged his teammates to bring women back to their hotel room.
Things truly came to a head in February, however. In the final days of the month, local media Blick report, Balotelli went to a party with Sion’s sporting director Barthelemy Constantin. In order to avoid being recognised, the former dressed up as Pikachu and the latter as one of the characters from Netflix show Money Heist.
The pair reportedly crashed a private party and were quickly recognised by some of the guests, who tried to take photos with them. This quickly caused tensions and verbal insults flew before things turned physical; a brawl occurred that saw Balotelli accidentally punch Constantin in the face.
The following weekend, Sion lost 4-0 to St Gallen with Balotelli on the pitch. Constantin attended the match with a black eye, and angry fans then burnt the Italian striker’s shirt in the stands and jeered him off the pitch.
By this point, Balotelli’s departure at the end of the season became inevitable. After Sion suffered relegation, Constantin told the media that signing the 32-year-old ‘was a mistake’ and that he was ‘totally wrong on him’.
It’s too early to stay what’s next for Balotelli, but wherever he ends up, he’ll likely continue to be the centre of attention once again.