Super Mario in the dock for speeding yet again

Milan, August 9: Italy's controversial striker Mario Balotelli was once again caught speeding in his Ferrari in a race with a friend's Lamborghini.

The former Manchester City and Liverpool player, now at French club Nice, was stopped by a highway patrol on the A4 highway near the northern Italian town of Vicenza.

Media reports claimed Balotelli had been doing up to 200kmh but had escaped with a fine and five penalty points because he had only been registered at 170kmh.

The police confirmed the star had been caught and fined, along with the Lamborghini driver, but described accounts of the incident as "exaggerated".

Balotelli, referrred to as 'Super Mario' who turns 27 on Saturday, concurred.

"Given that doing 200 kmh on a motorway is a criminal offence, it is absolutely untrue," he said in a video posted on his Instagram account.

The striker said the version of events leaked to the Italian media must have come from "jealous people".

"Jealous of what I don't know, maybe the car, I don't know," he said.

Balotelli is no stranger to controversies.

In 2015, he was banned from driving for 28 days after being clocked driving at 109mph on the M62 motorway.

Earlier, he had paid no fewer than 18 fines for speeding offences in the space of two years in Italy in 2012 and 2013, often on the same A4 road, during his days with Milan.