FC SION say that Mario Balotelli has bronchitis following reports he had gone AWOL after a video surfaced of him staggering out of a bar with a mystery woman.
The Italian striker completed a move to the Swiss side on deadline day – joining the ELEVENTH club of his career.
The deal was completed just days after the 32-year-old left Adana Demirspor following a bust-up with manager Vincenzo Montella.
The fallout was so bad, Balotelli demanded his release and quickly left to join FC Sion for £2.3million.
He has only featured twice for them, and is yet to score, but he has already found himself mired in controversy again.
A video surfaced of Balotelli over the weekend appearing to stumble out of a bar in Lausanne with his arms draped around a lady in red and another male.
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That clip quickly went viral and he soon found himself in the headlines again.
But Sion have shot down reports Balotelli went AWOL, saying he has been left unable to train after being prescribed antibiotics for bronchitis.
A statement said: “FC Sion learned with astonishment of several articles relaying a video of our player Mario Balotelli in Lausanne and rumours indicating that he would not have given any more news to his club.
“Following the great victory against the Saint-Gallois leader last week, a large part of the team went to the Vaud capital to celebrate this success.
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“This week, Mario Balotelli suffered from the onset of bronchitis and was directly supervised by the club’s medical service who prescribed him antibiotics.”
The club went on to confirm that Balotelli will not travel with the squad for tomorrow’s Swiss Cup match against Rapperswil.
They also hit out at rumours that intended to “harm the image” of Balotelli.
The statement continued: “Not having been able to train during the week, Mario Balotelli will not be travelling to Rapperswil tomorrow for the second round of the Swiss Cup.
“On the other hand, he will do individual training during the weekend with our physical trainer.
“FC Sion regrets that this video has taken on unnecessary and disproportionate proportions which harm the image of our striker.
“The Valais club takes advantage here to recall that it is very happy with the current performance of the team since the arrival of Mario Balotelli in Valais.”
Balotelli has not remained silent on social media as he posted a clip of his apartment on his Instagram story yesterday.
The volatile ace shot to fame in England after joining Manchester City from Inter Milan in 2010.
But following 30 goals in 80 appearances, he joined Inter’s bitter enemies AC Milan as a one-time Premier League winner.
Although that did not spell the end of Balotelli’s time in England following a shock switch to Liverpool in 2014.
His time spent at Anfield proved uneventful as the attacker managed just four goals in his 28 matches.
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Balotelli later enjoyed spells in France with Nice and Marseille, before returning to Italy with Brescia as well as Monza.
He then joined Adana Demirspor in Turkey in July 2021, scoring 19 goals in 35 games, before his departure last month.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
