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Come Fan with UsTuesday, August 4, 2026

Mario Balotelli gets suspension, fine

A questionable Instagram post lands the Liverpool forward in hot water once more.

Alex Livesey/Getty Images

"jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a jew" writes Mario Balotelli under an image of Mario, the infamous Nintendo character. Now Liverpool's infamous SuperMario is in trouble, having been found guilty of breaching FA rules, as it included a "reference to ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race and/or nationality and/or religion or belief."

Balotelli quickly deleted the image, posted on his Instagram account. He also denied the accusations of racism and antisemitism, pointing out that his foster mother is Jewish.

That wasn't enough to get Balotelli off the hook, however. He's been fined £25,000 and issued a one-match ban. That suspension means he'll miss Sunday's marquee Premier League match, in which Arsenal travel to Liverpool. The problems for the Reds just never stop, do they?

Nor do they stop for SuperMario. In addition to all the grief he’s gotten over his previous stunts -- fireworks, throwing money out of cars, that sort of thing -- he’s had a tough time adjusting to life at Liverpool. Nine Premier League games without a goal, then an injury that kept him out for over a month. It’s hard to see Balotelli staying much longer at Anfield.

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