Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli apologised on Tuesday for posting a message on Instagram that appeared to contain racist and anti-Semitic references and which has sparked a Football Association investigation.

The Italy international reposted an image of the Nintendo video game character 'Super Mario' on the photo-sharing website that contained the phrase "jumps like a black man and grabs coins like a Jew". (Also read:Mario Balotelli's five maddest moments)

The post was titled "Don't be a racist" and continued: "Be like Mario. He's an Italian plumber, created by Japanese people, who speaks English and looks like a Mexican." The offending phrase followed.

Balotelli deleted the post following criticism from other social media users, but after the FA confirmed it was looking into the matter, he wrote on Twitter: "I apologize if I've offended anyone.

"The post was meant to be anti-racist with humour. I now understand that out of context may have the opposite effect. Not all Mexicans have moustache, not all black people jump high and not all Jewish people love money.

"I used a cartoon done by someone else because it has Super Mario and I thought it was funny and not offensive. Again, I'm sorry."

A Liverpool spokesman told BBC Sport: "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."

Balotelli, who has been a victim of racism throughout his career, initially defended himself against accusations of anti-Semitism, tweeting: "My Mom is Jewish so all of u shut up please."

The 24-year-old, born in Italy to Ghanaian parents and then adopted by an Italian family, also described his decision to repost the image as "my unlucky moment".

Simon Johnson, a former FA executive and current chief executive of British organisation the Jewish Leadership Council, said Balotelli should face action over his post.

"We call upon the FA to investigate this offensive social media post and to take action if appropriate if we are to succeed in kicking racism out of football," he told the Daily Telegraph.

Under the FA's social media guidelines, the minimum suspension for rule breaches related to race is five games.