Mario Balotelli has been charged by the Football Association for reposting an image of the Nintendo character Super Mario that prompted accusations of racism and antisemitism.
The Liverpool striker attracted criticism on Monday for posting a picture on Instagram that included the sentence "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew" underneath the cartoon character with whom he shares a nickname.
The 24-year-old quickly deleted the image and, having denied the accusations of racism and antisemitism on Twitter and pointing out that his foster mother is Jewish, issued an apology for any offence caused.
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, 2014Balotelli submitted observations on the incident to the FA on Friday in which he detailed examples of the racist abuse he has suffered during a high-profile career with Internazionale, Manchester City, Milan and Liverpool.
However, he was subsequently charged by the governing body under rule E3, which cites as “aggravating factors” references to ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality, faith, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
The FA confirmed: “It is alleged the Liverpool player breached FA Rule E3 (1) in that his posting was abusive and/or insulting and/or improper. It is further alleged that this is an ‘Aggravated Breach’ as defined by FA Rule E3[2] as it included a reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief. The player has until 6pm on 15 December 2014 to respond to the charge.”
A regulatory commission will meet within 10 days of receiving Balotelli's response to consider the case. Given his observations to the FA, Balotelli is unlikely to plead guilty to the charge and would be expected to receive a fine if found to have brought the game into disrepute. Rio Ferdinand, for example, was fined £45,000 in 2012 for endorsing a tweet that characterised Ashley Cole as a "choc ice".
A Liverpool spokesperson said: “We acknowledge the FA’s decision and the player will work through the process to answer the charge. While that process is ongoing the club will not be making any further comment.”
Balotelli has endured a poor start to his Liverpool career since a £16m summer transfer from Milan and will miss Sunderland’s visit to Anfield on Saturday with a groin injury.
Guardian Service
