Mario Balotelli in legal battle with ex-girlfriend to get access to daughter he refused to admit was his... and only held for the first time LAST MONTH

Babymother drama: Mario Balotelli arriving at court in Brescia, Italy, for a custody hearing to determine how often he can care for his daughter Pia

 Babymother drama: Mario Balotelli arriving at court in Brescia, Italy, for a custody hearing to determine how often he can care for his daughter Pia
AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli is in negotiations with his ex-girlfriend Raffaella Fico for the right to visit the child, called Pia, who is eighteen months old.
Italy man Ballotelli did not acknowledge he was Pia’s father until February this year after DNA tests proved his paternity.
He was allowed to hold her for the first time only a month ago in the court house in Naples, after the judge granted special permission.
Balotelli and Miss Fico attended a private hearing at a court in Brescia, near Milan, to discuss how often the footballer will be able to visit his daughter.
After a hearing that lasted about an hour the Serie A star’s lawyers said that they were confident he would have the chance to hold his daughter again before he leaves for the World Cup in Brazil.
Balotelli’s lawyer Alessandra Capuano told Corriere della Sera:  ‘We are well on track to finding a way for both parents to fully collaborate.’
The judge did not go into discussions on maintenance payments, which are the subject of a separate legal process beginning in September.
Balotelli, who has a turbulent on-off relationship with Belgian model Fanny Neguesha, shed his bad boy image for the court, dressed in muted tones, loafers, a white vest and shirt and sunglasses.
He left the hearing on Monday with his lawyers and security, signing autographs as he went.  
Miss Fico, a former model, wore skinny jeans, a tight white T-shirt and leather jacket, and strode purposefully on towering heels. 

Raffaella Fico outside court: She and Balotelli have had an acrimonious relationship since she fell pregnant in Manchester in 2012, with the footballer claiming she told the papers about the pregnancy before him

Looking every bit the former model: Miss Fico then appeared to go to great lengths to persuade Balotelli to meet his daughter, posting pictures of Pia on Twitter and speaking of his 'indifference

 

Babyfather hassles: Despite Miss Fico's efforts, Balotelli said that he refused to meet his daughter until his paternity was proven by a DNA test 'because children must not be disappointed by adults who disappear'

 

In happier times: Balotelli with Miss Fico at the Studio 11 Night Club in Milan in September 2011

 

‘For a whole year I have tried to reach an agreement with Fico over where, and how, to do this DNA test,' Balotelli told La Gazzetta dello Sport earlier this year.
‘I cannot turn up if I am not certain of being her father, because children mustn’t be disappointed by adults who then disappear. I know something about that.’
In February he finally announced to the world that he had a daughter writing on Twitter: ‘Finally the truth, PIA, sweet child of mine, your dad.'
In April he took the day off training to hold the baby for the first time in a courtroom in Naples, spending about 50 minutes with her.
Balotelli was born in Sicily to Ghanaian immigrant parents. He was placed in foster care at the age of two and from then on raised by his adoptive family in Brescia.