Latest incident saw chants halt Atalanta vs Fiorentina Serie A game on Sunday
Monday 23 September 2019 00:35, UK
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has urged the Italian FA to hand out stadium bans to supporters guilty of racism after the latest incident on Sunday.
It comes after the latest incident saw racist chants prompt a brief suspension during the 2-2 Serie A draw between Atalanta and Fiorentina.
The referee ordered a warning to be read over the stadium loudspeaker after the chants appeared to be made by Atalanta fans towards Fiorentina full-back Dalbert Henrique.
Near the half-hour mark, the Brazilian player had stopped and looked in the direction of the chants before speaking to the referee.
The stadium announcement, warning the match would not resume until the chants stopped, was then met with whistles from the crowd before the match resumed after a break of several minutes.
After the game, both Fiorentina coach Vincenzo Montella and Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini played down the incident, claiming they did not hear the chants.
"Nobody heard the chants," Gasperini said. "But if some imbecile said something, that's different. It's serious, it happens in all the stadiums."
However, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who was a guest on Italian state TV RAI, condemned the incident and other recent cases.
Infantino said: "Racism is combated with education, condemnation and discussion.
"You can't have racism in society or in football. In Italy the situation has not improved and this is really serious.
"You need to identify those responsible and throw them out of the stadiums. You need, as in England, the certainty of the penalty.
"You can't be afraid to condemn racists, we need to combat them until they stop."
Inter Milan's Romelu Lukaku and AC Milan's Franck Kessie were have been subjected to abuse over the past few weeks but no club has yet been punished.
