New York Mayor Zhoran Mamdani on
Wednesday fulfilled a dream, welcoming Mario Balotelli to City
Hall and getting a Ghana jersey from the veteran former Italy
and Manchester City striker.
While vacationing in the US during the World Cup, Balotelli
recently appeared on television wearing a Ghana jersey, a show
of solidarity with his parents’ home country.
He presented the same jersey to Indo-Ugandam heritage, bearing
the number 45 and his name printed on the back, during a meeting
where the two were set to watch a match together.
Shortly before the start of the World Cup, Mamdani quoted
Balotelli’s famous quote, saying that New York would “do its
job” by offering the best possible fan experience during the
tournament.
The reference was to a statement by the footballer, who once
explained that he didn’t celebrate after scoring because he was
“just doing his job.”
The mayor is a football fan: he supports Arsenal but has Ghana
in his heart, and as a teenager he cried in the stands at the
World Cup in South Africa when the African team was eliminated
in the quarterfinals, just shy of what would have been a
historic victory.
Mamdani was born in Kampala to Indo-Ugandan academic Mahmood
Mamdani and Indian filmmaker Mira Nair.
When he was seven years old, after having spent three years in
Cape Town, he and his family moved to New York City.
Mamdani graduated from the Bronx High School of Science before
receiving a bachelor’s degree in Africana studies from Bowdoin
College in 2014.
In October 2024, Mamdani announced his candidacy for mayor of
New York City in the 2025 election.
A democratic socialist, Mamdani campaigned on a progressive,
affordability-focused platform, supporting fare-free city buses,
universal child care, city-owned grocery stores, a rent freeze
on rent-stabilized units, additional affordable housing units,
and a $30 minimum wage by 2030.
He also expressed support for LGBTQ rights, comprehensive public
safety reform, and tax increases on corporations and those
earning above $1 million annually.
He won the Democratic primary in June 2025, defeating former
governor Andrew Cuomo in an upset, and was elected mayor in the
November general election.
He is New York City’s first Muslim and first Asian American
mayor.
Mamdani on June 5 surprised listeners by quoting former Man
City, Inter, AC Milan, Liverpool and Italy striker Balotelli,
calling him one of the greatest ever soccer players and saying
if New York managed to organise an efficient and successful
World Cup then it was only doing its job, as Balotelli once said
when asked why he didn’t over-celebrate his goals.
Mamdani quoted Balotelli, who is widely regarded as having
squandered his early talent, during a speech ahead of the 2026
World Cup, calling the Italian footballer “one of the greatest
strikers of recent times.”
Somewhat surprisingly, the New York mayor cited the Italian
player to explain his point: “Mario Balotelli, one of the
greatest strikers of recent times, once said regarding his
celebrations after a goal, ‘When I score, I don’t celebrate
because I’m just doing my job. When a postman delivers letters,
does he celebrate?'”
To which Mamdani added: “When New York hosts a World Cup that’s
organized, safe, and runs smoothly and without a hitch, will we
celebrate? No, because we’ll just be doing our job.”
Balotelli, 35, who now plays for Emirati side Al-Ittifaq after
going through a string of sides including Nice, Marseille,
Brescia, Monza, Adana Demirspor and Genoa, played for Italy 38
times between 2010 and 2018, scoring 14 goals including a
memorable brace against Germany in a European championship
semi-final in 2012, when Italy lost the final to Spain.
He is widely seen as having failed to fulfill a huge talent.
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