Mario Balotelli daughter Pia was born on 5 December 2012. Later in December 2012, Fico accused Balotelli of being "irresponsible" and "not interested" in her newborn daughter. In response, Balotelli threatened to take legal action against Fico to defend his reputation against what he considered false accusations. In February 2014, Balotelli finally acknowledged paternity of his daughter Pia following a positive DNA test. In March 2013, Balotelli became engaged to wed his Belgian girlfriend, Fanny Neguesha. They split in September 2014. On 28 September 2017, Balotelli fathered a second child, a son named Lion, born to an unidentified woman. Internazionale Manchester City
Racism in association football were also brought to the attention of the European football governing body UEFA and the EU. In April 2009, Inter's Mario Balotelli, an Italian footballer of Ghanaian descent, was subjected to racial abuse from Juventus fans. They were handed a one-game home fan ban as a result. At UEFA Euro 2012 playing for Italy, he fell victim to monkey chants during a match against Spain. After his move from Milan to Liverpool in August 2014, he was the target of more than 8,000 abusive posts on social media between that time, and by March 2015, more than 4,000 of these