Serie A: Mario Balotelli refused entry for Brescia training session following reports of club sacking Italy striker

Brescia: Days after reportedly being fired by Brescia, Mario Balotelli was turned away by the club when he arrived for training on Tuesday.

Balotelli walked up to the gate of Brescia’s training ground and, following a brief conversation with a club employee, he turned around.

As he walked away he said to media, “Now say that I don’t want to train.”

Balotelli was reportedly fired by his hometown club last weekend for failing to report to training as the Italian football league prepares to resume three months after being stopped by the coronavirus. The former Italy striker said he had stomach problems.

Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport said Balotelli sent another doctor’s note on Monday night to the club saying he had recovered, but that it didn’t arrive in time to send to the relevant authority and so he wouldn’t have been insured if he had injured himself in training.

Balotelli signed last August with Brescia — the city where he grew up with his adoptive family — in an emotional homecoming for a player who has jumped back and forth between the Italian, English and French leagues.

He scored five goals in 19 Serie A matches.