Roma fined £42,000 for racist chants in game at AC Milan

Roma have been fined 50,000 euros (£42,400) after racist chants from their fans halted a match at AC Milan.

Play in the 0-0 Serie A draw on Sunday was stopped for about two minutes after chants were aimed at Milan's black players by visiting fans.

AC Milan head coach Massimiliano Allegri called Italian football "a place for the uncivilised" afterwards.

In response to the ruling, Roma released a statement condemning the actions of their supporters.

It read: "This type of behaviour from any football supporters, including ours, is completely unacceptable. We are committed to facing this issue head-on to rid our sport of this problem and promote respect for all."

The capital club were also warned they could play future league matches behind closed doors should the same events be repeated.

The game was brought to a temporary halt at the start of the second half and an announcement made to supporters ordering them to cease their behaviour before play was resumed.

Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli, ex-Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng and defender Kevin Constant were part of the Milan team, with the governing body of the Italian league's judgement stating three unnamed players had been abused.

In January, a friendly between Milan and Pro Patria in January was suspended because of racist chants aimed at Boateng. In April, Juventus were fined 30,000 euros (£25,700) for their fans' racist abuse of AC Milan players.

The Milan v Roma match marked the first time in Italian football where play had been temporarily halted and then re-started, but Allegri questioned the strength of the sanction.

"Stopping the game doesn't work, it's a happy medium and like all happy mediums, it doesn't do anybody any good," he said.

"Balotelli was defeated, he gave everything, but he is 22 and subjected more and more to racist chants. That doesn't do him any good."

Fifa president Sepp Blatter also voiced his disgust at the Roma fans' behaviour, tweeting: "Appalled to read about racist abuse in Serie A. Tackling this issue is complex, but we're committed to action, not just words."

In the aftermath of the Milan and Pro Patria game, Fifa created a special taskforce to tackle the issue. Members included Boateng, Premier League referee Howard Webb, the Football Association's governance and regulation director Darren Bailey and pressure group Football Against Racism in Europe's chief executive Piara Powar.

The group met on Monday, with the world governing body since publishing an outline of proposed sanctions for clubs and individuals found guilty of "racist or discriminative acts".

These will include having an official at the stadium tasked to spot "acts of discrimination", creating a sliding scale of punishments from fines to playing games behind closed doors and the creation of "a concrete action plan" by all bodies describing how they will try to fight racism.