Antonio Conte insists supporters in Italy must “improve” after Romelu Lukaku was subjected to racist chants during Inter Milan’s victory at Cagliari.
The Belgium international striker, who moved to Italy from Manchester United in the summer, scored the winner from the penalty spot with 20 minutes remaining.
However, Lukaku was subjected to clearly audible monkey chants from large sections of the crowd as he stepped up to the spot.
The striker stared out the fans after scoring, after becoming the latest player to be targeted by the Sardinian club’s fans; Everton new boy Moise Kean suffered similar when he played with Juventus last term, but Cagliari escaped punishment after the Italian Football Federation declared the chants had “an objectively limited relevance”.
Previously Blaise Matuidi and Sulley Muntari have both suffered racist abuse at the Sardegna Arena, and while Serie A were quick to take down shared videos on social media of match footage highlighting the issue on Sunday night, they have shown little determination to clamp down on Cagliari in previous years.
Romelu Lukaku receives racist abuse from crowd after scoring in Inter Milan win
The Inter defender, Martin Skriniar could be seen after Lukaku’s goal telling Cagliari fans to be quiet and he told Sport Mediaset: “I heard things that I think should not exist in football, so I told the Cagliari fans to shut up.
“But now we don’t think about it.”
New Inter boss Conte, who has begun life back in Serie A with two wins from two games, claimed he had not heard the chants but says fans must improve how they treat opposition players.