Mario Balotelli was on the forefront of another racism row, after UEFA confirmed they were investigating claims a banana was thrown onto the pitch during Italy's 1-1 draw against Croatia on Thursday.
European soccer's governing body are "looking into" claims of monkey chants directed towards Balotelli and a photographer was reported to have witnessed a steward retrieving a banana thrown on the pitch.
Racism has threatened to overshadow what has been a terrific tournament on the field so far, with UEFA also investigating an incident of monkey chants directed at Balotelli in Italy's first game against Spain. Czech Republic's Theodor Gebre Sellassie was also reportedly racially abused by Russian fans while the Dutch players were subjected to racist chants during a training session before the start of the tournament.
Balotelli had previously said he would "kill someone" if they threw a banana on the street at him and would "walk off the pitch" if he was racially abused.
UEFA confirmed they had received complaints and said, "We are looking into the reports."
Italy coach Cesare Prandelli, however, rejected claims of racial abuse, saying "I haven't seen anything." He had also earlier said there were no racial chants during the Spain game.
The Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) said they had received a picture of a banana being taken away from the pitch, but said they were unaware of such an incident. "There's not any official complaint at the moment about that," the FIGC said in a statement. "It's not quite clear where this photograph was shot at the game and whether it (the banana) was launched against Mario Balotelli."
A group called FARE (Football Against Racism in Europe) are the ones that have complained to UEFA and said they have gathered evidence. They wrote on Twitter: "FARE observers report between 300 and 500 supporters of Croatia involved in racially abusing Mario Balotelli at last night's match in Poznan.
"UEFA received the observers' reports this afternoon. We are working with them to provide as much information as possible.'
"UEFA confirmed receipt of the report which, along with racist chanting, alleges that a photographer witnessed a steward retrieving a banana from the pitch."
