Anger is growing over the Italian FA's decision to ban Pescara midfielder Sulley Muntari for one match after he was the victim of racist abuse during a Serie A match against Cagliari at the weekend.
The 32-year-old complained to the referee about the chanting of some fans towards the end of the match on Sunday and asked for play to be stopped to it could be addressed.
When his request for stoppage was refused, the Ghana international was shown a yellow card for dissent. He then walked off the pitch in protest, exchanging words with the fans as he departed.
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At a meeting of the Serie A disciplinary committee this week, Muntari's yellow card was upheld – meaning he will face a one-match ban for accruing five bookings – but Cagliari will not face punishment for the actions of the supporters.
"Officials at the ground wrote in their report that the racist chants were coming from only around ten people, thus less than one per cent of the circa 2,000 in the stadium," reports the Football Italia website. "They also noted it was only audible because the rest of the supporters were staging a 'silent protest' and therefore the decision was made not to penalise Cagliari."
BBC pundit Garth Crooks, a trustee of the Kick It Out anti-racism campaign, has called for players in the Italian league to go on strike over the incident.
He told the broadcaster: "I'm calling on players in Italy, black and white, to make it absolutely clear to the federation in Italy that their position is unacceptable, and if the decision is not reversed then they withdraw their services until it is."
Kick It Out said it was "unbelievable" that Cagliari had escaped punishment, and called the Italian authorities "gutless".
World players' union FIFPro said the disciplinary committee's decision was "appalling, outrageous and poorly managed".
Italian football has been accused by The Independent of burying its head in the sand. "That kind of apathy, plus the letter-of-the-law stance of the governing body does nothing but cement Italian football’s reputation as navel-gazing and insular, seemingly oblivious to how the world has evolved over the past 80 years," writes Adam Rigby.
Tommaso Giuntoli, Cagliari president, has apologised to Muntari and denied that his club's fans are racist.
The incident involving Muntari was not the only incident in Italy over the weekend. Football Italia also reports that Inter Milan and Lazio were handed suspended punishments for the behaviour of their fans, who racially abused Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly and Roma defender Antonio Rudiger.
