Mario Balotelli Becomes Unlikely Face of Firework Safety Campaign

With Bonfire night fast approaching, Man City’s controversial striker Mario Balotelli is the unlikely star in a firework safety campaign days after one was set off in his house leading to a fire.

Balotelli had to take evasive action to escape the blaze at his £3million ($4.8m) rented house the day before Manchester City’s dominating win at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Fire crews and police rushed to Balotelli’s five-bedroomed home in a select area of Cheshire after a blaze started when fireworks were let off in the bathroom at 1am on Saturday morning.

Reports have sugested Balotelli told club officials that he and four friends had been letting off fireworks through an open window at the house.

Bathroom towels were set on fire and the blaze spread but Balotelli has insisted that he did not cause the fire and that the offending firework was let off by his friends.

But this incident did not put him off from agreeing to front a safety campaign warning children of the dangers of fireworks ahead of the annual British festival of Guy Fawkes night on November 5.

“The newspapers got the story wrong about me and the fire at my house,” Balotelli was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying on Tuesday.

“I didn’t set any fireworks off, it was a friend of mine. I didn’t know anything about it until I heard the shouting coming from the bathroom.

“Luckily, nobody was injured, and my friend apologised to me for the damage to my house. It was a really stupid thing for him to do, someone could have been really hurt, and I was really, really angry with him about it.

“It is important message that children should not mess with fireworks. They can be very dangerous if they are not used in the right way. People should follow the firework code.”