--- title: Mario Balotelli Orders Life-Sized Statue to ‘Immortalise’ Himself description: According to a local Italian artist, the volatile soccer player Mario Balotelli has commissioned a life-sized statue of himself to "immortalise" himself in his home... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7158905/mario-balotelli-orders-life-sized-statue-to-immortalise-himself/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-02-28T20:05:05.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-16T15:16:46.188Z article:section: Sports og:title: Mario Balotelli Orders Life-Sized Statue to ‘Immortalise’ Himself og:description: According to a local Italian artist, the volatile soccer player Mario Balotelli has commissioned a life-sized statue of himself to "immortalise" himself in his home... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7158905/mario-balotelli-orders-life-sized-statue-to-immortalise-himself/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65d6f69e753e9851/698a98c5b21a9c6527510cbd/balotelli_euro_0228.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1500 og:image:height: 844 og:image:alt: balotelli_euro_0228 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Mario Balotelli Orders Life-Sized Statue to ‘Immortalise’ Himself twitter:description: According to a local Italian artist, the volatile soccer player Mario Balotelli has commissioned a life-sized statue of himself to "immortalise" himself in his home... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65d6f69e753e9851/698a98c5b21a9c6527510cbd/balotelli_euro_0228.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) # Mario Balotelli Orders Life-Sized Statue to 'Immortalise' Himself > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 28, 2013 8:05 PM UTC  Italian forward Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring the second goal during the Euro 2012 football championships semi-final match Germany vs Italy on June 28, 2012 at the National Stadium in Warsaw. Italian forward Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring the second goal during the Euro 2012 football championships semi-final match Germany vs Italy on June 28, 2012 at the National Stadium in Warsaw. Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Feb 28, 2013 8:05 PM UTC According to a local Italian artist, the volatile soccer player Mario Balotelli has commissioned a life-sized statue of himself to “immortalise” himself in his home in Brescia, Italy. “I have received the commission, but I’ve never met Balotelli so I am working from photos,” [Livio Scarpella told the Italian newspaper _Il Giornale di Brescia_](http://www.giornaledibrescia.it/cultura-e-spettacoli/una-statua-per-balotelli-icona-contemporanea-1.1564971). “I presented several drawings but Mario wanted to be immortalised in a pose that shows him having scored a goal, highlighting his muscles and with an expression of defiance.” (**MORE:** [Looking Back at Balotelli’s Turbulent Time in the English Premier League](http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2013/02/01/ciao-mario-looking-back-at-mario-balotellis-turbulent-time-in-the-english-premier-league/)) Understandably, the Italian media has jumped to the conclusion that the pose will be based on the 22-year-old’s iconic celebration after scoring his second goal in last summer’s European Championship semi-final against Germany. Balotelli’s performance was good enough to spring the surprise win though Italy was thumped 4-0 in the final by Spain. “I have imagined him as an athlete from ancient times and the statue will be a mix of classical and pop style in platinum and coloured bronze with the eyes made of stones,” said Scarpella. Well, quite. videoid=1937053460001 It’s just the latest incident in a tumultuous few months for Balotelli. He started the season with Manchester City, who is currently defending their English Premier League title, which was secured in dramatic fashion on the last day of the 2011/12 campaign when Balotelli’s assist set up the winning goal in injury time to beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2, thus denying their local rivals Manchester United the championship for a 20th time. But Balotelli never seemed to settle this season, and was sold to AC Milan in January. (**VIDEO:** [Mario Balotelli Opens Up to TIME](http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,1937053460001%5F2128234,00.html)) Life has been anything but dull since moving back to Italy. He scored twice on his debut and added another two goals over his next two games. But he drew a blank in last weekend’s derby against Inter, who were fined €50,000 ($65,000) by the Italian league in light of fans racially abusing Balotelli, who used to play for Inter (the fine was also for racism towards another former player, Sulley Muntari, as well as offensive banners and the usage of a laser aimed at players’ eyes). Balotelli raised a finger to his lips when Inter fans were abusing him. **MORE:** [Scoring the Goals That Sank Germany, Balotelli Says it Loud — He’s Black, Italian and Proud](http://keepingscore.blogs.time.com/2012/06/29/scoring-the-goals-that-sank-germany-balotelli-says-it-loud-hes-black-italian-and-proud/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7158905/mario-balotelli-orders-life-sized-statue-to-immortalise-himself/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7158905/mario-balotelli-orders-life-sized-statue-to-immortalise-himself/"},"headline":"Mario Balotelli Orders Life-Sized Statue to 'Immortalise' Himself","datePublished":"2013-02-28T20:05:05.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-16T15:16:46.188Z","description":"According to a local Italian artist, the volatile soccer player Mario Balotelli has commissioned a life-sized statue of himself to \"immortalise\" himself in his home...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7158905/mario-balotelli-orders-life-sized-statue-to-immortalise-himself/","keywords":["Italy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65d6f69e753e9851/698a98c5b21a9c6527510cbd/balotelli_euro_0228.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt65d6f69e753e9851/698a98c5b21a9c6527510cbd/balotelli_euro_0228.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"balotelli_euro_0228","caption":"Italian forward Mario Balotelli celebrates after scoring the second goal during the Euro 2012 football championships semi-final match Germany vs Italy on June 28, 2012 at the National Stadium in Warsaw.","creditText":"Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7158905/mario-balotelli-orders-life-sized-statue-to-immortalise-himself/","name":"Mario Balotelli Orders Life-Sized Statue to 'Immortalise' Himself"}}]}] ```