Brescia defend Mario Balotelli ‘black’ comment as ‘misunderstood joke’

President Massimo Cellino has caused controversy with his latest comments on the Italian striker

Brescia have labelled Massimo Cellino’s controversial comments on striker Mario Balotelli as merely a ”misunderstood joke”.

Cellino, when questioned on the former Manchester City striker’s recent fallout with head coach Fabio Grosso, claimed, “he is black and he is working to clear himself”.

The comments followed the player being left out of the squad to face Roma at the weekend after a disagreement with Grosso, which saw him storm out of training.

Balotelli, who suffered racial abuse during a game against Hellas Verona earlier this month, took to social media before the game, stating: “Recovery! Coming back soon, for the moment let them talk.”

When pushed on the latest, Cellino remarked: “What should I tell you about him? He is black, but he is working to clear himself but is having many difficulties.

“In football there are teams that fight and win, if we think that a player on his own can win matches, we would be offending the team. Otherwise, we would play one against eleven.”

A club statement has since been released, labelling the comments as a “joke” that has been “misunderstood”.

It read: “Concerning the declarations released this afternoon by president Massimo Cellino, referring to our player Mario Balotelli, Brescia evidently deem it to be a paradoxical joke and clearly misunderstood.

“It was said in an attempt to defuse excessive media exposure, as well as with the intent to protect the player himself.”

Brescia insist the comments made by Cellino on Balotelli were a joke (Getty)

Cellino also hinted at a possible sale in January by claiming Balotelli has become a distraction to the team.

“The manager made a mistake by speaking in the press conference about only Balotelli and not about the team as a whole,” Cellino continued.

“I signed him at the end of the window, not to sell tickets, but because he could be of real value.

“But it’s now become a point of weakness because of the overexposure.

“If we keep talking about him, it’ll only hurt us and him.”