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IN THE LINE OF FIRE: Kevin-Prince Boateng

ITALIAN FOOTBALL club Roma were fined £42,000 after their fans subjected black Milan players to racist abuse on May 12.

A Serie A sporting tribunal deemed that Roma supporters “continually directed chants expressing racial discrimination to three of the players of the opposing team” at the San Siro.

Play was paused for roughly two minutes at the start of the second-half as the away support aimed monkey taunts at players, including Mario Balotelli and Sulley Muntari.

Although Roma officially said in a statement that they condemn the behaviour of their supporters, their coach Franco Baldini questioned whether the fans were actually being racist.

He told Gazzetta dello Sport: “The boos were directed at Balotelli because he’s a feared player. It’s difficult to figure out where the border is between racial discrimination or simple boos.”