On this day in 2014, Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli was suspended and fined after making racist and anti-Semitic comments on social media.
The then 24-year-old was was banned for one match, fined £25,000 and ordered to attend an education course following an independent regulatory commission hearing after accepting an aggravated breach of the Football Association Rule E3, relating to references of ethnic origin, colour, race, nationality or religion or belief.
Italy international Balotelli was charged after posting an image of computer game character Super Mario on Instagram which included the words “jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew”.
He quickly deleted the post and the following day issued an apology via his Twitter account.
Balo…