Updated at 8.40pm

MARIO BALOTELLI HAS apologised for causing offence after it emerged the English FA are set to investigate the Liverpool striker for posting a racist and anti-Semitic image to his Instagram account.

Ironically, the image – which has been doing the rounds on social media for a number of months – starts with the words “don’t be racist.”

Balotelli quickly deleted the post and took to Twitter to defend himself calling the post an “unlucky moment” and saying his foster mother is Jewish:

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In a further apology this morning, Balotelli said he originally thought the post was funny and not offensive:

The 24-year old has, of course, been subject to racist abuse himself, however, that won’t stop the English FA from investigating the post.

Liverpool are also said to be unhappy with the Italian, a spokesperson telling the BBC:

“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.”

Originally published at 7.30am.

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