Inter Milan's Mario Balotelli reacts during a Serie A match between Chievo and Inter Milan in Verona, Italy .

PARIS (AP):

Mario Balotelli endures abuse that no 19-year-old should suffer, for no other reason than because he is black.

There is the ugly graffiti on walls leading to the San Siro stadium, where the Inter Milan striker plays. "Non sei un vero Italiano, sei un Africano nero," it says. Translation: "You are not a true Italian, you are a black African."

There are the unprintable racist chants and vicious boos he hears when he plays, and which live on, even after matches are over, in videos on the Internet. There was the time in Rome last June when, his sister says, hooligans threatened him and hurled a bunch of bananas into the bar where Balotelli was relaxing with fellowplayers from Italy's under-21 squad, prompting the owner to call the police.

And what has the Italian league done in response to the insults he regularly faces? Unbelievably, it slapped Balotelli with a euro7,000 ($10,000) fine last week.

disgusted

"It's like the world is upside down," Cristina Balotelli says. "It's ridiculous, and I think my brother just doesn't want to think about it because he is so disgusted."

In a fairer world, all you'd need to know about Balotelli is that he is young, gifted, quick, muscular, scores goals and is nicknamed 'Super Mario.' He joined Inter in 2006. He made his first team debut in December of the following year, aged just 17, as a late substitute in a 2-0 win against Cagliari. Two days after that, he scored twice in a 4-1 crushing of Reggina. With a total of 23 goals in 68 appearances for the 17-time Italian champions, a call-up to Italy's national squad may not be far off.

But the racists who have long soiled Italian football don't see Balotelli's skills, just the colour of his skin. Even when Inter is not playing, he has been targeted for abuse. Prosecutors in France are investigating taunts about Balotelli that Juventus supporters shouted when the Italian team played French champions Bordeaux in the Champions League last November, says the French anti-racist group that is pushing for criminal and sporting punishments in the probe.

force of character

Speaking by phone, Cristina Balotelli said it is a testament to his force of character that her brother, somehow, manages not to be cowed by the hatred flowing from a vocal minority of "very ignorant people" who "need an enemy and they need someone to curse." So far, he also has resisted the temptation of leaving it behind by going overseas, to the English Premier League, for example, where there has been talk of interest from clubs such as Arsenal or Chelsea.

"He gets very upset but then ... he doesn't think about it anymore, this is a strength," his sister says. "Of course, I know that he is hurt."

"If he decides to go abroad, it shouldn't just be because of this," she adds. "It's like to run away, it's like being defeated."

Such outrages in Italy have gone on for years. In 2001, when 18-year-old Nigerian forward Schengun Omolade took the field for Treviso, fans hoisted a banner that said, "We don't want a black player on our team" and then left the stadium. Before that, hooligans in Rome held aloft a large banner aimed at opposing Jewish fans: "Auschwitz Is Your Country; the Ovens Are Your Homes." In 2005, Ivorian defender Marc Zoro was reduced to tears by racist boos and insults hurled at him by Inter supporters.