Mario Balotelli left the field of play during Brescia‘s Serie A match against Hellas Verona after being racially abused by supporters.

The former Manchester City and Liverpool striker was dribbling by the corner flag when he picked up the ball and booted it towards the area of the stand where monkey chants were originating.

Teammates and Verona players went over to embrace Balotelli and convinced him to continue playing after an announcement was read out over the PA system in line with Uefa’s protocol.

The match was suspended for several minutes before the Italian striker went on to score in the closing stages.

Verona’s manager Ivan Juric subsequently denied hearing any racist chants.

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“I am not afraid to say there were no racist chants today,” Juric told Sky Sport Italia. “They might have jeered and mocked the great player, but there was nothing there...

“You can ask him, there was nothing there. I am disgusted by racist abuse and I will be the first to condemn it when it happens, but this was not it.

“They provoked him with jeers and sarcastic chants, but they were not racist. Anything else is a lie.”