Mario Balotelli gets fine and one match ban for controversial post

Mario Balotelli

Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has been banned for one match and fined £25,000 for his controversial tweet that contained anti-Semitic and racist references. The FA ordered the Italian to also attend an educational course.

The striker accepted the charge and admitted on his Facebook page that the FA’s decision made it clear that his post was wrong.

He apologized to the Liverpool supporters and his teammates for his actions.

"I am sorry that my team-mates and supporters of Liverpool FC have to be penalized for something I did and now come to regret. It is my intention to comply with the decision of the FA and make sure it never happens again," he said.

A Liverpool spokesman said that any action that the club may take against Balotelli will be done in-house.

"The club acknowledges the decision reached by the FA independent panel and due consideration will be given to the written judgement once we receive it from the FA.

"Any further action taken by ourselves in relation to this matter is between the club and player," the spokesman said.

Despite deleting the controversial post soon after posting it and issuing an apology on Twitter, Balotelli will miss Liverpool’s match against Arsenal at the weekend due to the ban. Liverpool won’t be too disappointed with the verdict as Balotelli was likely to miss this weekend’s match with a groin injury anyway.

The post which caused this was a forward by another user which referred to the popular Nintendo character Super Mario as being able to ‘jump like a black man and grab coins like a Jew.’

Here is the post that resulted in the striker getting punished:

P.S. The article may contain terms which may be considered offensive.