Good, Bad, and Ugly

Balotelli set for Italy debut

Balotelli, who is being courted by Manchester City and will be one of only a handful of coloured players to have represented Italy, displayed his trademark single-mindedness by immediately grabbing the number nine striker jersey with Cassano taking 10.

The Italian footballer Mario Balotelli is referred to as “coloured”. He is black.

The word “coloured” is largely viewed as an archaic, even racist term, except when referring to mixed-race South Africans. It is much like calling someone a “negro”.

I’d strongly suggest you change this.

R.M.

That word should not have been used, and our journalists have been reminded of that. We issued a corrected version of the story: GBU Editor

Italy’s national player Mario Balotelli warms up during a training session in Coverciano, near Florence August 8, 2010. REUTERS/Tony Gentile