Mario Balotelli has become a legend of Premier League football in a very short span of time and not just for his on-field antics of which there is no dearth. For some unknown reason, fans love to see characters in sport rather than efficient automatons who perform on the pitch and are unheard of, off it. And that trend makes Balotelli all the more popular with followers of the game.

In this article I take a look at the top five off-field controversies that Manchester City’s star Italian striker was involved in during the year 2011:

Controversy # 5: Balotelli Buys Motorbike, Banned From Riding It: July 2011

The Italian ace bought a Harley Davidson and whizzed around Manchester on it before club manager Mancini got wind of it. The player was immediately banned from riding the motorbike owing to the risk of injury arising from it.

Controversy # 4: Gets His Car Impounded 27 Times In First Nine Days: April 2011

The player set a record average of three parking violations a day in the first nine days of driving his Maserati in England, keeping Man City club valets busy in recovering the car from the police.

Controversy # 3: Tops £300,000 In Club Fines: April 2011

Balotelli set a new record for fines paid at Manchester City when he topped £300,000 after his most recent offence of throwing darts at youth players of the club. He threw the missiles from a first floor window at the club and when questioned is reported to have said he did it because he was «bored».

Controversy # 2: Eats Expensive Curry For £150,000: December 2011

Balotelli accompanied by friends went out for a late night curry eat out 48 hours before the crucial match with Chelsea thereby breaking the curfew imposed by Man City manager Mancini. The infringement cost the star striker £150,000 or a week’s wages, making it the most expensive curry ever eaten, in the history of humanity.

And The Winner Is:

Controversy # 1: Sets House on Fire: October 2011

Mario Balotelli set his house on fire after letting off fireworks in his bathroom early morning on Saturday, October 22, 2011. Two fire crews using breathing apparatus were summoned at about 1 am on Saturday to Balotelli’s house in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire. The police were also summoned and their main challenge was to keep the Manchester City striker from going back into his house to recover belongings.

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