Mario Balotelli has apologised for his sending off in Manchester City's 1-0 defeat at Arsenal at the weekend, expressing fears that it could mean he misses the European Championships.

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The controversial 21-year-old was dismissed for two yellow cards after a pair of ugly challenges in the Premier League encounter that saw his side drop to eight points behind bitter rivals Manchester United in the title race.

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His club coach Roberto Mancini then came out and said the Italian of Ghanaian origin would play no further part in the Premier League run-in and would "probably" be sold in the summer.

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Worse was to follow, though, as Italy coach Cesare Prandelli then claimed he would consider dropping the former Inter Milan forward from his squad.

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If Balotelli is not part of the Italy squad for the brief international get-together later this month, or Italy's friendlies against Luxembourg on May 29 and Russia on June 1, then he could hardly expect to be going to Poland and Ukraine.

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That prospect has prompted an apology from the player.

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"I'm very sorry for what happened, for the disappointment I've given Manchester City and in particular to Roberto Mancini for whom I have a lot of respect and I'm very fond of," Balotelli told Italian news agency Ansa via his agent Mino Raiola.

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