ANTI-discrimination body Kick It Out today slammed the decision to book Mario Balotelli for pointing out he was being racially abused by rival fans during a match on Saturday.

Referee Nicolas Rainville showed the Nice attacker a yellow card for telling him about the chants aimed at him by the Dijon fans.

Kick It Out said Rainville’s decision was “unacceptable and wrong” and urged a “strong response from the French football authorities.”

“Kick It Out was shocked to see Mario Balotelli booked for bringing to the attention of the referee alleged racist chanting directed towards him by Dijon supporters,” it said.

“It is unacceptable and wrong to see that once again, a match official has failed to apply the Uefa protocol — in place for a number of years — which requires action to be taken to stop the game to deal with the offending abuse.

“Although Kick It Out’s remit is within English football, the organisation has contacted anti-discrimination network Football Against Racism in Europe to see what actions they will be taking in raising this with Ligue 1 officials.

“The organisation expects a strong response from the French football authorities in condemning both the alleged racist chanting from Dijon supporters and the failure of the referee to follow protocol to halt the behaviour, as well as the decision to compound Balotelli’s experience as a victim by booking him for merely asking the match official to do his job.”