This archive report was first published on 4 September 2019.
Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku was targeted by monkey chants from a section of the home crowd during Inter Milan's 2-1 Serie A win at Cagliari on Sunday.
The abuse lasted for several seconds as Lukaku prepared to take the winning penalty, but Inter's fan group 'L'Urlo della Nord' claims it was not racist.
According to the group, the chants were a 'form of respect' aimed at intimidating opponents, rather than a sign of racism.
"You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem," the letter read.
"We use some 'ways' only to 'help our teams' and to try to make our opponents nervous, not for racism but to mess them up."
The group, which has no official affiliation with Inter, claims to be a multi-ethnic fans organisation that has always welcomed players from everywhere.
However, they admit to using the 'monkey chants' in the past and will likely continue to do so in the future.
"We are not racist and so are not the Cagliari fans," the letter continued.
But Lukaku has called on players, clubs and federations to unite and take a stand against racism in football.
"Ladies and gentlemen it's 2019, instead of going forward we're going backwards and I think as players we need to unify and make a statement on this matter to keep this game clean and enjoyable for everyone," he said.
