Balotelli Snubs Union

Man City striker and Italy international, Mario Balotelli, has turned down the opportunity to speak at the Union.

Michaelmas president, Austin Mahler, told The Tab: “The Union invited Mario Balotelli to address the Society in April, with a view to a possible visit for the Easter Term. It’s unfortunate that he declined, but it’s inevitable that some of the potential speakers we invite will not be able to accept for various reasons.”

Does Mario have nothing to tell Cantabs?

The 22-year-old frequently makes tabloid headlines with antics such as walking into a women’s prison to have a look around and spontaneously paying off student loans in Manchester University’s John Rylands Library, and just yesterday made off with an official photographer’s lens cap after a Premier League match.

But there has been some speculation that Balotelli turned down the invite because he does not see his behaviour as particularly unusual. A City source told the Sunday Mirror: “Mario really can’t understand what all the fuss is about. He has no interest in self-publicity.

“Mario just does things off the cuff to entertain himself and his friends, without really thinking of the consequences.

“He’s just a young man having fun and he thinks it is strange that so many people are interested in him.”

Balotelli would have joined the likes of glamour model Jordan and Radio 1 DJ Kissy Sellout to provide a more popular contrast to controversial speakers that have spoken at the Union in recent years, such as Julian Assange, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Neville Thurlbeck.