• Premier League

Sorry Mario Balotelli claims he was trying to be funny

Mario Balotelli apologised on Tuesday for an image he posted on Instagram which prompted accusations of racism and anti-Semitism.

The Football Association were said to be investigating his account's reposting of an image which featured the Nintendo character Mario with the words "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew". Liverpool also confirmed they would be speaking to their player.

The image was posted to his account on Monday and caused a storm on social media before it was deleted and, within 24 hours, Balotelli had recognised the error he made:

I apologize if I've offended anyone. The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour. I now understand that (...) pic.twitter.com/UlNeNlEz9M— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) December 2, 2014

An FA spokesperson told the Guardian the body is investigating whether to charge Balotelli for bringing "the game into disrepute by making comments which included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race".

The Liverpool striker had initially defended his action on Twitter, calling it an "unlucky moment" and a club spokesman, on Monday, told the Daily Telegraph: "We are aware of the posting which has since been promptly deleted by the player. We will be speaking to the player about the issue."

Former FA executive and current chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council Simon Johnson said Balotelli should face action.

"We abhor all forms of racism, wherever it is found," Johnson told the Daily Telegraph. "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."

In 2012, the FA charged then-Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand with improper conduct and fined him £45,000 after he referred to Chelsea defender Ashley Cole as "choc-ice".

Under the FA's social media guidelines, the minimum ban for race-related breaches of rules is five games.

Mario Balotelli defended his Instagram post, calling it an "unlucky moment" © Getty Images

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