Mario Balotelli is taking Manchester City to a tribunal over a £340,000 for his discipline problems last season. Have the club picked on him?
Mario Balotelli may frequently be in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons but the latest stories surrounding him are intriguing. He is taking Manchester City to a Premier League tribunal for a £340,000 fine as a result of his discipline problems on the field causing him to miss 11 matches last season, a season where City won their first Premier League title.
It seems a little harsh considering it is a greater fine than UEFA and FIFA commonly hand out as a result of racism investigations into European and other international matches. He could certainly afford the fine but City are setting a benchmark which could cripple players who aren’t on a similar pay packet to the Italian.
There have been some stories going round suggesting that Balotelli is out of favour at the club, on his way out of the club with other big sides interested and generally just that he isn’t a first choice for Roberto Mancini any more.
His decision to take the fine to a tribunal clearly gives the impression that he feels he has been picked on or used to make an example.
City have tried conventional ways of trying to keep Balotelli under control but this could be an example of the club punishing him to try to get him to stay in line, to ensure that he behaves or simply to try and make him think about his role at the club. However, there is always a massive risk as far as this is concerned with a player of such a flamboyant and random nature.
Balotelli missed 11 matches last season through his own poor discipline on the pitch which is a substantial number. However, City did not suffer as a result because they secured the Premier League title on the final day of the season thanks to a late goal from Sergio Aguero.
It may be that the fine, which is two weeks wages, is simply inserted into a player’s contract or is standard club discipline in which case it seems excessive. It risks an element of alienation, especially from the group of younger players who may all be on the fringes of the first team.
If it is a power struggle between player and club, of which there is no way to prove it, then both parties are being a little naïve. A better way for City to get their message across would be to simply not play Balotelli while the player himself has to realise he’s in a fortunate position and another European club may choose not to pay him as much.
Balotelli will also be forced to pay costs if the tribunal does not go his way which may mean the overall amount he has to pay tops the £350,000 mark.
image: © praguegallagher
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