Mario Balotelli has submitted examples of racist abuse he has faced online as part of his observations to the Football Association.

The Liverpool striker has until 6pm today to give the FA investigation an explanation for his post on Instagram earlier this week which said Nintendo character Mario “grabs coins like a Jew”.

It is understood the Italy international will say his post was intended to be anti-racist.

Balotelli was the target of racist tweets in September which led to an investigation by Merseyside Police.

Liverpool’s £16m summer signing apologised to fans and deleted the post on Monday, which also included the words: "Don't be a racist! Be like Mario. He's an Italian plumber created by Japanese people, who speaks English and looks like a Mexican."

The striker tweeted: “I apologise if I've offended anyone. The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour.

"I now understand that out of context [it] may have the opposite effect. Not all Mexicans have moustache, not all black people jump high and not all Jewish people love money. I used the cartoon done by someone else because it has Super Mario and I thought it was funny and not offensive. Again, I'm sorry.”

He faces a five-match ban if the FA decides that he breached its anti-racism rules.