Milan Hires Ex-Policeman To Discipline Balotelli

AC Milan have assigned a former policeman to act as minder to Mario Balotelli in a bid to keep the unpredictable striker out of trouble. The Italian forward regularly courts controversy, most recently for breaking a reporter's microphone in Naples and breaking rules by leaving the San Siro without wearing official club uniform or colours. Milan hope that Filippo Ferri, a former police officer who was prohibited from work for his part in the heavy handed treatment of protestors at the G8 summit in Genoa 2001, will be able to keep Balotelli on the straight and narrow, according to Gazzetta dello Sport. Ferri is well known within the Serie A club as he is already employed as a security advisor and will be tasked with keeping Balotelli off the front pages. However, the president of the Italian Football Association (FIGC), Giancarlo Abete, says Ferri will not be needed when the forward is on international duty. 'Balotelli is one of us and, within the national team, everybody assists each other,' he said. 'In any case, it’s up to his club to evaluate this.' The player's agent Mino Raiola recently implied that Balotelli was unhappy by all the negative press he receives and may be forced to leave Italy 'There is an exaggerated amount of attention on him,” Raiola told Mediaset. 'It’s not on. I don’t know if I’d be able to stand it all personally. We all need to calm down and we’ll analyse things with Milan.'