Mario Balotelli's agent has expressed his disappointment over comments made by UEFA president Michel Platini in response to the Italian striker's declaration that he would walk off the pitch at Euro 2012 if he was racially abused.
Balotelli made it clear before the tournament started that he would not tolerate racism and Platini agreed with him that a tough stance needed to be taken in Poland and Ukraine.
However, Platini insisted that it would be up to the match officials to stop a game if there were problems, saying: "It's not a player, Mr Balotelli, who's in charge of refereeing."
Platini also stated that any player who walked off the pitch would receive a yellow card, and Balotelli's agent is unhappy that UEFA did not show more support.
Mino Raiola said: "I have to say that the reaction of UEFA to what Mario said was very strange and I would have expected a different reaction.
"Mario has had this problem before and in Italy we have a saying: Racism is ignorance.
"Mario is the kind of lad where this kind of abuse glides off his back but I was very disappointed with what Michel Platini said and a lot of people are with me on that. I can't say I'm surprised by the reaction, though.
"I don't believe Platini has done anything to improve the game or help the position of players - as his reaction to Mario shows."
Raiola has been impressed by the approach the English Football Association has taken to race issues and says the rest of the world could learn a lot.
He said: "I have had meetings with the FA and they've been very proactive. They are ahead of other countries in Europe."
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