(CNN) -- Racist abuse on social media shows no sign
of diminishing in European football after British police launched an
investigation into abusive tweets sent to Liverpool striker Mario
Balotelli.
The Italian international
tweeted "Man Utd...LOL" on Sunday after Liverpool's rivals Mancheser
United slumped to a surprise 5-3 defeat by Leicester City in the English
Premier League, seemingly provoking a discriminatory response.
"We can confirm officers
are looking into offensive comments made on Twitter about Mario
Balotelli," said Merseyside Police on their official Twitter feed.
The 24-year-old Balotelli's tweet was retweeted 150,000 times and was met with a torrent of abuse.
"We extend our support to Mario Balotelli after the appalling racist abuse directed at him on Twitter," said
British anti-racism group Kick It Out.
"A large number of social
media users alerted us to the messages by tweeting our official account
and we have since reported this
via True Vision -- the police's online reporting facility.
"During the 2013/14
season, 50% of all complaints submitted to us from across the game
related to social media abuse," added the Kick It Out statement.
"The issue has been
escalating and we urge fellow social media users to assist in bringing
this type of abuse to the attention of the authorities by reporting
directly to True Vision."
In an interview with CNN in 2013, Mario Balotelli -- then an AC Milan player-- vowed to walk off the pitch if he was racially abused at a football game.
That was after he was subjected to racist chanting during an Italian league game against Roma at AC Milan's San Siro stadium.
The 22-year-old put his
fingers to his lips in front of the visiting supporters' section as a
section of fans directed "monkey chants" at him and then teammate Kevin
Prince-Boateng.
In August, Balotelli joined LIverpool from Milan in a $26.5 million deal.
The Italian has scored
one goal since signing -- in Liverpool's 2-1 Champions League win
against Ludogorets -- but the Merseyside club has had an uncertain start
to the domestic season, losing three of their opening five games.
The Italian is well
known to English football fans after a turbulent two-and-a-half-year
stint with Manchester City, where he helped the team to a first league
title in 44 years while also gaining a cult following for his off-field
antics.