Jose Mourinho’s New Leaf

By: chris | April 22nd, 2009

Since arriving in Italy, The Now Average One has made it a point to annoy all comers with his well-worn ways. Top of the list has been Juventus, who have borne the brunt of his vitriol. And you’d expect, after the bianconeri fans were accused of racism against Mario Balotelli this past weekend, Jose to unleash a historic diatrabe against all things Juventus. But instead he’s done the unthinkable and defended the Juve fans. Sort of.

The accusations of racism are a bit confusing – some reports say that Juve’s fans chanted “a Black Italian does not exist”, while the Juventus fans have refused to apologize, saying their chants weren’t in reference to the color of Mario Balotelli’s skin and Mourinho, of all people, agreeing. And it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a stadium chant has been misinterpreted.

“I don’t think it’s racism,” Mourinho told a news conference. “It’s an ignorant, stupid, infantile way to show that I don’t like this player.

“Why? Not because he’s African, but because he’s good, because he scores against my team, because he dribbles, because he’s difficult to mark.

“If I can say something in Juventus’ defence it is that it is not the first time Mario has been the victim of these chants,” he said. “It’s happened at many stadiums and even at our home ground.”

Well, he’s half-right – which, I suppose, is more than we can typically expect from Jose.

The problem isn’t necessarily racism or Juve’s fans (feel free to take a snapshot of that one) but rather the problem is Mario Balotelli. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin, his place of birth, his name, his qualities as a footballer or anything else he cannot control. It has to do with the fact that he’s the biggest twat in world football. Or he’s at least under strong consideration for the throne. He makes even Cristiano Ronaldo look like a humble altar boy by comparison.

Matteo Ferrari, an African born Italian international, also seems to agree the aggression against Balotelli has nothing to do with racism:

“I think people whistle him apart from the color of his skin. He has to change attitude, and I say this as someone who can be like an older brother to him. There is a code in football, right or wrong, you cannot behave the way he has at that age. He will only end up making enemies. He cannot continue to look for trouble. His excuses of a tough past cannot be accepted.”

Marcello Lippi, the man who will likely never call him up despite his immense talent due to his attitude, echoed the sentiments of Mourinho, saying the incident on Sunday has been blown well out of proportion.

And this is why Balotelli has done more damage to Italian football than imaginable. His holier-than-thou attitude, unprofessional manner and deplorable antics – and not the sympathetically lovable Cassano “oh dear would someone get this boy some Prozac already” antics – force a blind eye to think the hatred is racist* – and for a select unintelligent few it may be – and thus gives Italian football, a crumbling giant as it were, another black eye it doesn’t need. Which is precisely what’s happened, with every acronym under the sun saying a stronger stance needs to be taken against racism this week in the wake of the allegations against Juventus.

* – If there is racism it should be dealt with harshly, don’t be mistaken. But the number of people, including Mourinho, who are claiming otherwise – along with Balotelli’s long track record at such a young age – leads us to believe that the issues weren’t race-related.

For years now Italy has been decrying England’s ability to unethically poach Italian youngsters, but maybe this is one case where they could do calcio a favor. Italy has enough problems – particularly if Mourinho starts defending the enemy.