Mario Balotelli 'in racism and anti-Semitism storm' after controversial Instagram post

The Liverpool striker reposted an image of cartoon character Super Mario alongside the phrase "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew"

John Powell

Controversy: Balotelli immediately deleted his post

Mario Balotelli risks FA action and even a ban, after his attempt at an anti-racist message via social media went badly wrong.

The Liverpool striker posted – and then swiftly deleted – a link on twitter to his Instagram page, in which he recycled an old meme which projects an anti-racist message using the image of computer game character Super Mario.

The picture carries the message that Super Mario has characteristics of many different races, but at the bottom of the image, the extra lines “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew” has been added.


His club swiftly expressed their concern at the potential for the message to be interpreted as using a racial stereotype, and Balotelli immediately deleted the post.


He then took to Twitter to defend his action, with a further post which read: “(My Mom is Jewish so all of u shut up please)”.

An official of the club who has spoken to Balotelli explained that it was the striker’s intention to merely project an anti-racist message, and he believed the stereotyping was merely an extension of that message.

Liverpool though, accept that the striker may have inadvertently caused offence with his message, and they explained they will be speaking to the striker to point his responsibilities in using social media.


I just know that Those are"trying"to"kill"me for my Unlucky moment they ll need to stick with their plan even when i ll be back scoring gols— Mario Balotelli (@FinallyMario) December 1, 2014




“We are aware of the posting which has since been promptly deleted by the player. We will be speaking to the player about the issue,” a spokesman said.

The FA have clear social media guidelines, and their rules include the clear instruction players are responsible for any third party postings on their account, even if they are attempting to expose the racial attitudes of others.

Those guidelines are now likely to prompt an inquiry by the FA, who have got tough on the issue of social media responsibility recently, with Rio Ferdinand fined and banned for three matches earlier this season for the use of a gender-offensive word on Twitter.

Liverpool hope that the FA will understand the context of Balotelli’s message, and accept he has been the subject of racial abuse throughout his career.


Jamie McDonald

Ban: Ferdinand fell foul of the FA's rules

The player though, was criticised last night by Simon Johnson, the chief executive of the Jewish Leadership Council and a former FA executive who called on the governing body to investigate the issue.

“We call upon the FA to investigate this offensive social media post and to take action if appropriate if we are to succeed in kicking racism out of football,” he said.

If Balotelli is found to have broken FA rules, then the minimum sanction for race-related breaches is a five game ban.

Technically, if found guilty of an offence by the FA and banned, he could also face a cut in his salary at Anfield, after agreeing a contract which contains behaviour-related clauses.