Balotelli vows to cut out off-field problems…
Italian striker Mario Balotelli has reacted to his one match ban and the £25k fine given to him by the FA following his misconduct charge, the Star reports.
The 24-year-old infamously posted a very misguided Instagram image a few weeks back, which included an image of Super Mario alongside the caption “jumps like a black man and grabs coin like a Jew”.
Balotelli immediately apologised at the time, citing his Jewish mother and the fact that he’s consistently been the victim of racism in the past.
Having heard of his punishment though, Balotelli has apologised again – this time to fans and his teammates – who will now be without his services for the crunch clash against Arsenal on Sunday.
“Following the recent events related to my “Super Mario” post, the FA decision has made clear that it was wrong,” the forward, who has yet to score a Premier League goal for us, said.
“I am sorry that my teammates and supporters of Liverpool FC have to be penalised 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.”
Considering Rio Ferdinand was given a three match ban for calling a Twitter user a ‘sket’, we can perhaps consider ourselves fortunate that Balotelli will only miss the one fixture, and will be back available for the tie with Burnley on Boxing Day.