Mancini fines Balotelli over strip club visit

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has fined Mario Balotelli one week's wages after the Italian striker was pictured outside a strip club less than two days before a league game. The 21-year-old accepted the punishment -- believed to be around £120,000 -- after being pictured outside the club in Liverpool in the early hours of Friday morning, contravening club regulations ahead of Saturday's game against Bolton. Balotelli went on to play and score in the Premier League leaders' 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium but Mancini expressed his disappointment and pledged to investigate. Mancini said Wednesday: "I spoke with Mario and gave him a fine of one week's wages for what he did. "This is normal because every player should have good behaviour before the game." When asked if Balotelli had accepted the fine, Mancini said: "Yes." It is the second time Balotelli has broken a curfew this season -- among a host of other high-profile misdemeanours -- but he admitted in an interview published Tuesday he had made a mistake.