Ghana: Is Mario Balotelli Italian or Ghanaian? · Global Voices
Ndesanjo Macha

Is Mario Balotelli Ghanaian or Italian? That's the question that has created a heated debate online. Mario Barwuah Balotelli is a football striker playing for Manchester City. He was born to Ghanaian immigrants in Italy. However, Mario's life-threatening health condition made his family turn him over to social services and later he was fostered by an Italian family. He became an Italian citizen in 2008.
He has refused to join the Ghanaian national team arguing that he has always dream of playing for Italy. His first call-up for Ghana national team was in August 2007.
Let's see opinions of bloggers and their readers about the issue. We will start with Abena Serwaa who asks, “Is Young Mario Balotelli part of the Ghana-Deniers Club?” She starts he post by describing Mario's “smouldering exotic looks”:
Mr Balotelli is also known for his smouldering exotic looks. In fact, he is so exotic that if you saw him, you may be inclined to think he looks alot like:
1.  That trotro* mate who refused to give you the correct change on your way to work last week
2.  The guy selling DVDs at Adum Market in Kumasi who tried to get you to buy The Ultimate  Steven Seagal collection
3.  A cool young guy hanging out with his buddies at Accra Mall
Then she asks:
So how does a guy that looks so typically Ghanaian end up with such a distinctly Italian name? Is he part of the Ghana-Deniers club that has featured prominent personalities such as pro-wrestler Kofi Kingston formerly of Jamaica now of Ghana?
Interestingly, he was courted persistently by the Ghana Football Association to join the Black Stars, but always stood firm that his dream was to play only for Italy and never for his country of origin. This was despite the fact that some Italians had serious objections to him joining the Azzurri.
Commenting on Abena's post, Mike says that Mario is not Ghanaian. Having Ghanaian genes does not make one Ghanaian :
Sometimes we have to accept that simply having Ghanaian genes doesn't make one Ghanaian. It's in a similar way I refuse to use the term “African American” for the descendants of slavery. I can also not bring myself to call my nieces Ghanaian, although for some, BOTH their parents are Ghanaian. There are too many facets about Ghanaian culture none in these groups have or would ever experience, and for me a lot of what makes me Ghanaian is in my experiencing and relating to the country.
I recently played a youtube vid of our anthem for my nieces and nephew, and I might as well have been playing old timey music- they couldn't get or appreciate the attempts to connect to a world they don't fully understand. Is Mario denying a heritage he clearly doesn't relate to? No, and I won't hold it against him. Is he denying the lineage he has? Judging from the pics of him at age 10 w/ his mom and brother- which strongly contrasts with the narrative he's always maintained- I would imagine it so, and part of a long-standing and perhaps misinformed issues about abandonment (among other things) he'll need to sort out as he grows older. But, no, he's not Ghanaian.
Sankofa agrees with Mike. He says, “I actually think Ghanaians had no claim on from the minute he declared himself an Italian”:
I have to agree with Mike here. I actually think Ghanaians had no claim on from the minute he declared himself an Italian. He clearly considers himself Italian and who am I to insist otherwise? He's never lived in Ghana, probably never even visited and he doesn't identify with Ghanaian culture of any kind. Leave him be to band together with the Italians who will probabaly never consider him as a true Italian either. I actually feel sorry for him. Having a hybrid identity can be terribly lonely at times.
Another reader calling himself The other Mike disagrees. No matter what nationality he chooses, The Other Mike notes, he will always be asked, “Where are you originally from?”:
He sure earned his spot at the top of the Ghana-Deniers list. Since i'm not big on soccer, I could have easily mistaken him for the guy selling the Segal dvd collection. That was funny Abena. He kinda looks like Castro the hiplife guy too (when he was skinny).
He is free to choose whatever nationality he wants, and that is OK. But he will quickly learn that in the real world, he will always be asked…. “where are you originally from?” Eating tons of pasta, speaking Italian etc wont change his ethnicity.
@ Mike; “sometimes we have to accept…”
Sometimes? Really?
What are the other times?
Gifty supports The Other Mike's position:
i totally agree with “the other mike”.. Mario will ALWAYS be asked where are you originally from…. man, it's like he's moving backwards.. nowadays african americans are PAYING to use their DNAs to find out their country of origin in West africa and seeking dual citizenship (eg. Isaiah Washington of Grey's Anatomy has dual citizenship with Sierra Leone).. and he's just going the other direction.. you can change ur name.. eat tons of pasta, speak fluent italian, whatever.. u are still an african.. better start accepting it..
Responding to comments, Abena Serwaa concludes by saying, “…but isn't it fascinating how Kevin-Prince Boateng embraced the whole Ghanaian identity and apparently has done so for a while?” Kevin-Prince Boateng is a German-born Ghanaian international footballer. He played for the Ghana national team during 2010 FIFA World Cup while his half-brother Jérôme Agyenim Boateng played for Germany.
Ghanaian blogger Nana Sarpong has also written a post about Mario Balotelli: The Boy Barwuah who Became the Man Balotelli. He sees Mario as a troubled child struggling to understand himself:
When I look at this footballer, I see a troubled child struggling to understand himself.
Mario with the Balotellis
What makes it worse, I think, is that he thinks the best way out of his psychological turmoil is to distance himself of his parents and run away from his ‘Blackness.’ Obviously he needs help. A kind of help his white Italian parents cannot provide. If they could–and if they were really in their right senses–they would have invited the Barwuahs to the ceremony that saw Mario gain his Italian citizenship or informed them of the change of name. At least, from Mr. Barwuah's viewpoint, the Balotelli's made a conscious effort to not give mario back as they kept on extending the foster period (the poor Barwuahs could not match the legal strength of the Balotellis).
According to Nana, Mario told the Ghana Football Association that he never heard of the country!:
The Ghana Football Association (GFA), at some point, asked Mario to play for Ghana. The boy slammed the GFA by sarcastically puking he never heard of the country although he was at the same club with Ghana's midfielder, Sulley Muntari. My take at the time was that Mario was a talented player, but Ghana does not need such a twerp. He obviously must have his side of the story–just like he said his parents abondoned him a hospital–but Mario needs to grow out of that weak mind of his.
He concludes his post by saying that Mario's story is simply “…a sad tale of many poor African family living in Europe, America or even in Ghana”:
But it is a sad tale of many poor African family living in Europe, America or even in Ghana. It is a huge mistake the Barwuahs did, and it is obvious their son (who has practically disowned them) intends to make them live with it, forever!