Mario Balotelli has been charged by the Football Association for the allegedly antisemitic post he reblogged on Instagram.
A statement on the governing body’s website said: “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 Liverpool striker admitted to posting the image, which included a photoshopped sentence saying that Nintendo character Super Mario “grabs coins like a Jew”, but also asked for forgiveness, saying: “I apologise if I've offended anyone. The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour.