22 September,2014 08:25 AM IST | | AFP
Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli was the victim of racial abuse on Twitter yesterday following his reaction to Manchester United's shock defeat to Leicester
Mario Balotelli
London: Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli was the victim of racial abuse on Twitter yesterday following his reaction to Manchester United's shock defeat to Leicester.
Mario Balotelli
Balotelli, part of the Reds side which lost 3-1 at West Ham on Saturday, tweeted: "Man Utd...LOL" in response to United's 5-3 loss at the King Power Stadium.
Racist messages His tweet was met by a string of racist messages, including one from an account called @CraigSainsbury which read: "F''' you Mario you f'''''' n'''''. Got eat some bananas and get ebola you dirty monkey."
The account from which the tweet was sent subsequently appeared to have been closed. Balotelli has been singled out for racist abuse in the past.
He was heckled by Italy supporters during a pre-World Cup training camp in May and was on the receiving end of numerous instances of racist abuse during his time at Inter Milan and, more recently, AC Milan.
Balotelli spoke about the abuse directed at him in an interview with GQ magazine in July. "They aren't used to seeing people who are different, not white, who act not as rebels but normally," he said.
"I think what the ignorant people don't like is that people who are different are allowed to act that way," he added.
