‘Super Mario’ in hot water over ‘racist’ picture

The Football Association of England is investigating Mario Balotelli over a social media post which appeared to contain anti-Semitic and racist references.

Balotelli reposted an image from the computer game Super Mario on his Instagram page which included the comment “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew”.

The Liverpool striker quickly deleted the posting on Monday night and issued an apology, claiming he was attempting to be “anti-racist with humour” but the 24-year-old is facing the prospect of a misconduct charge.