Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli has apologised after claims of alleged anti-Semitism.
The Daily Mail reports the Italian re-posted an image to his Instagram account of the computer game character Super Mario which read: 'Don't be racist - be like Mario. He's an Italian plumber created by Japanese people who speaks English and looks like a Mexican.'
At the bottom the image included the words: "... jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew."
If Balotelli is charged by the FA he could face a five-match ban.
Balotelli then appeared to delete the image before denying he had made an offensive anti-Semitic reference.
"My Mom is jewish so all of u shut up please," he said on Twitter.
On Tuesday morning Balotelli returned to social media to say sorry for his actions. He issued a statement on his Twitter account saying: "I apologise if I've offended anyone."
He added: "The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour. I now understand that out of context 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 a cartoon done by someone else because it has Super Mario and I thought it was funny and not offensive. Again, I'm sorry."
