Manchester City’s mercurial striker Mario Balotelli has been charged with violent conduct by the FA, for an incident in Sunday’s game against North London’s Tottenham Hotspurs.
Balotelli appeared to stamp on the head of Spurs midfielder Scott Parker, and although referee Howard Webb was just feet away from the incident, he took no action against the man who can’t seem to stay out of trouble.

Balotelli has until 6pm on Wednesday 25th January to appeal the charge, and could be banned for four matches if found guilty. If he does choose to appeal and it fails, he could face a lengthier ban.

The charge will come as little consolation for Tottenham who felt that Balotelli should have seen a straight red card in the match. Instead he remained on the pitch to score a stoppage-time penalty which saw City win the game 3-2, and denied Spurs what could have been a crucial point against their bitter rivals.

Spurs manager Harry Rednapp was also incensed by what looked like a deliberate forearm smash by Joleon Lescott on defender Younes Kaboul. Lescott also escaped unpunished and will not be facing any charges from the FA over the incident.

Fans of many of the premiership clubs were incensed by the injustice of Sunday’s game between Manchester City and Spurs, and showed their disapproval on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

One fan said, “I can’t believe the ref took no action against Balotelli, it was the most obvious straight red card I’ve seen all season. Spurs were robbed!

Another said, “City seem to be getting decisions like this from the ref all the time…It certainly makes you wonder if they’ve got friends in high places.

Have you seen the incident? Do you think it was accidental or deliberate??