Fireworks after AC Milan star Mario Balotelli caught smoking

MARIO BALOTELLI, the gifted-yet-troubled soccer star for AC Milan, has a penchant for doing stupid things.

This weekend, he was cited for smoking a cigarette in the bathroom of an Italian train, which was carrying his AC Milan squad to face Fiorentina on Sunday. Club vice president Adriano Galliani said Balotelli will be fined.

Balotelli was really ticked off when he heard that the train's ticket collector, who caught him smoking, told Galliani, "You need to pull his ears. He was smoking in the bathroom," Gazzetta dello Sport reported.

Balotelli compounded the situation by picking up a yellow card in the 2-2 draw with Fiorentina, which rules him out of next weekend's showdown with Napoli, the team Milan is trying to catch for second place and a direct Champions League berth.

Balotelli, who starred for Manchester City prior to coming to Milan, has been called "unmanageable" and "crazy" and he admits to "sometimes doing strange things."

The list includes:

* He and some friends fired off air pistols in the open in Milan's Piazza della Repubblica.

* He drove into a women's prison in Italy to "have a look around."

* He threw darts at a youth-team player as a "prank" because he was bored.

* In October 2011, he and his friends fired off fireworks in his $4.6 million mansion, setting the home on fire.

In an ironic twist, later that week, he was unveiled as Greater Manchester's ambassador for fireworks safety.

* He was fined $400,000 for going to a strip club before a Man City game.

Proving he's not all bad, in 2010, a young fan approached Balotelli asking for an autograph. When Mario asked him why he wasn't in school, the youngster said it was because he was being bullied. Balotelli went to the school with the student to confront and scare the bully. He even had a word with the headmaster about making sure it didn't happen again.

Not a bad move for someone who has shown poor judgment.