London, Dec 31 (IANS) Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini has slammed Italian striker Mario Balotelli for his smoking habit.
Mancini, who brought Balotelli to England from his Italian club Inter Milan, said the young striker puffs his way through five or six cigarettes a day.
‘Yeah, I know he smokes. For me it’s not OK but I’m not his father or his mother,’ Mancini was quoted as saying by the Sun when asked if he knew Balotelli liked a drag,.
‘For me it’s not OK but I’m not his father or his mother. If he was my son I would give him a kick on the a*** but he is not my son!
‘I told him that it is better if you didn’t smoke. I am always against cigarettes and, for that reason, my son doesn’t smoke. There are players who smoke in Italy and also here. I don’t think he smokes a lot, maybe five or six a day.’
The 21-year-old has had a history of facing the coach’s wrath, recently the Italian bad boy was pulled up by his manager for staying out too late with his girlfriend when next day Manchester City had their crucial Champions League tie against Bayern Munich.
