Balotelli in hot water again over speeding

Rome, Italy: Mario Balotelli was once again caught speeding in his Ferrari in a race with a friend's Lamborghini on Tuesday.

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

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, 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.