Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli apologised today for his social media post which appeared to contain potentially racist and anti-Semitic references. The case is under investigation by the Football Association (FA), according to British media reports.
Balotelli, dubbed «Super Mario», made the post on his Instagram page yesterday describing the popular video games character as someone who «jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew.»
The rest of the text read: “Don’t be racist. Be like Mario. He’s an Italian plumber, created by Japanese people, who speaks English and looks like a Mexican.”
The 24-year-old Italian first responded to critics from his Twitter account: «My Mom is jewish so all of you shut up please,» he wrote. But later he deleted the post.
«I apologize if I’ve offended anyone,» Balotelli said on Twitter. «The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour. I now understand that out of context it may have the opposite effect.»
Liverpool said they will speak to the striker who signed from AC Milan in August.
«We are aware of the posting which has since been promptly deleted by the player,» a Liverpool spokesman told the BBC. «We will be speaking to the player about the issue.»
Former FA executive Simon Johnson, who is the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council, said Balotelli should be punished.
«We abhor all forms of racism, wherever it is found,» he told The Daily Telegraph newspaper.
«We call upon the FA to investigate this offensive social media post and to take action if appropriate if we are to succeed in kicking racism out of football.»
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