Mario Balotelli gets one-match ban and £25,000 fine for Instagram post

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/dec/18/mario-balotelli-fa-super-mario-instagram-liverpool

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Mario Balotelli has been banned for one match and fined £25,000 after being found guilty of breaching Football Association rules by posting a controversial image of Super Mario on Instagram.

The Liverpool striker was charged by the FA over an image he reposted on the social media site that contained the words “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew” underneath a picture of the Nintendo character.

His ban will apply with immediate effect, ruling the forward out of Brendan Rodgers’ plans for Sunday’s Premier League game against Arsenal.

“Following the recent events related to my ‘Super Mario’ post, the FA decision has made clear that it was wrong,” Balotelli wrote in a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday night that indicated he would not appeal.

“I am sorry that my team-mates 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.”

Balotelli accepted the FA’s charge but claimed there were mitigating circumstances in a written submission to the regulatory commission that considered his case. The 24-year-old did not attend Thursday’s hearing but vehemently denied accusations of racism and antisemitism that followed the reposting on Instagram.

The Italy international quickly deleted the image and explained that his foster mother is Jewish before issuing an apology for any offence caused.

In his written submission to the regulatory commission, Balotelli detailed several examples of racist abuse that he has suffered during a high-profile career with Internazionale, Manchester City, Milan and Liverpool, including on social media, and claimed to be making an ironic anti-racism statement with the image.

However, he was found guilty of improper conduct and must attend an education course as part of the commission’s punishment. A Liverpool spokesperson said: “The club acknowledges the decision reached by the independent panel and due consideration will be given to the written judgment once we receive it from the FA. Any further action taken by ourselves in relation to this matter is between the club and player.”

Balotelli was charged with a breach of FA Rule E3 (1), with the governing body stating “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 will miss Sunday’s game at Anfield but whether he would have been involved against Arsène Wenger’s side is questionable.

Balotelli is troubled by a groin problem sustained on international duty and has missed six of Liverpool’s last seven fixtures, including Wednesday’s Capital One Cup win at Bournemouth, as a result.

Rickie Lambert and Raheem Sterling have led Rodgers’ attack in the absence of the Italian, who has contributed little since his £16m summer arrival from Milan and has yet to score a Premier League goal for Liverpool.

Balotelli joins an extensive list of players who have contravened FA guidelines on social media since the then Liverpool player Ryan Babel became the first player to be censured in 2010-11 for posting a photograph of the referee Howard Webb mocked up in a Manchester United shirt on Twitter.

Rio Ferdinand was suspended for three matches and fined £25,000 for an aggravated breach of FA rules in October. The Queens Park Rangers defender, who was previously fined £45,000 for a tweet that characterised Ashley Cole as a “choc-ice” in 2012, referred to the mother of a Twitter user as “sket”, a Caribbean slang term for a promiscuous girl or woman.

Cole received the heaviest fine for a social media infringement in 2012, when he was ordered to pay £90,000 for describing the FA as a “bunch of twats” while the Tottenham Hotspur defender Benoît Assou-Ekotto was fined £50,000 and banned for three games for a message in support of Nicolas Anelka’s controversial “quenelle” gesture.