The former Manchester City and Liverpool striker, 31, has not been featured for his country since September 2018.

Balotelli is one of 35 players named for a three-day training camp after scoring nine times in 21 appearances across all competitions this season, for his club Adana Demirspor in Turkey.

Italy will face North Macedonia on 24 March in a World Cup play-off semi-final.

Balotelli has a record of 14 goals in 36 games for his country but has earned only three caps since the 2014 World Cup.

This week’s training camp is one of Roberto Mancini’s final opportunities to get his players together before the North Macedonia match.

Balotelli worked under Mancini earlier in his career at Inter Milan and Manchester City.

Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku, Brescia’s Mario Balotelli, Napoli’s Koulibali and former Juventus player Moise Kean are among the elite group of black football players that have suffered racist chants and abuses in the past.

The letter, whose creation was driven by AC Milan, is addressed to ‘all those who love Italian football,’ and says ‘we have to publicly recognise that we have a serious problem with racism.’

The letter reads;

“An open letter to all those who love Italian football
We have to publicly recognise that we have a serious problem with racism. It’s a problem that we have not done enough to combat over the years. Images of players being racially abused in Italian football have been viewed and discussed all around the world this season and that shames us all. No individual should ever be subjected to racist abuse – inside or outside of football – and we can no longer stay silent on this issue or wait for it to magically disappear. Driven by the clubs, positive conversations have been held in recent weeks with Lega Serie A, FIGC and international experts on how to tackle and eradicate this issue from the game. We, the undersigned clubs, are united by our desire for serious change and Lega Serie A has stated its intention to lead the way by delivering a comprehensive and robust Serie A anti-racism policy, stricter new laws and regulations and a plan for educating those within the game about the scourge of racism. We don’t have any more time to waste. We must now act with speed, with purpose and with unity and we call on you, the fans, to support us in this vitally important endeavour.

Yours sincerely,

Atalanta, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Fiorentina, Genoa, Hellas Verona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio, Lecce, AC Milan, Napoli, Parma, AS Roma, Sampdoria, Sassuolo, SPAL, Torino, Udinese”