171 Juventus fans are BANNED after an investigation into the racist abuse directed at Romelu Lukaku

171 Juventus supporters have been suspended by Italian police after an investigation into racist abuse directed at Inter Milan striker Romelu Lukaku during the first leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final earlier this month.

The Belgium striker was subjected to monkey chants from some of the Juventus supporters behind goal after converting a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw.

Video footage showed Juventus fans chanting ‘f***ing monkey’ and ‘f*** off’ at Lukaku, who was shown a second yellow card and sent off for silencing them during his celebrations – with the referee decided his gesture was provocative.

Inter appealed Lukaku’s suspension, but it was originally upheld by Italy’s Sport Court, before Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina personally intervened and overturned the suspension on Saturday as a measure to combat racism. go all-to-play for Wednesday’s second leg.

Following the decision to have his suspension overturned, Lukaku said: “I believe that justice has been served thanks to his intervention and this sends a great message to the entire sporting world and beyond. This has shown that the will is there to fight racism. ‘

After stashing an injury time penalty, Lukaku celebrated by holding his finger to his mouth at Juventus fans – who chanted ‘f***ing monkey’ at him

The 171 supporters responsible for the racist chanting were identified through videos and images of the crowd being examined.

They will be subject to the Daspo – effectively a stadium ban – and will also face fines for violating rules regarding orderly conduct in stadiums.

The Daspo is a regulation originally introduced by the Italian authorities to keep hooligans out of football stadiums and aims to prevent violence and anti-social behavior around sporting events.

Following news of the bans, a statement read: ‘There are 171 Juventus fans who will be subject to the Daspo provision by the Turin police station.

‘It is the result of the research of the Digos (The General Investigations and Special Operations Division) in Turin, in the context of the fight against racial discrimination in sports, and it is impressive work through audio and video.

This made it possible to identify those who launched chants and cries directed at Inter player Lukaku during Juventus vs Inter at the Allianz Stadium on April 4 in the semi-final of the Italian Cup.

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina reversed Lukaku’s suspension as a measure to combat racism

“According to reports, racist statements were made by 250 people.”

More studies are underway to identify the rest of those responsible for the singing.

Meanwhile, after deciding to reverse the ban, the FIGC said in a statement that tThe report (from the federal prosecutor’s office) stated “unambiguously that the player’s conduct, approved by the match director, followed the serious and repeated expressions of hatred and racial discrimination by the opponents.”

They added: “The measure reiterates how the fight against all forms of racism is one of the founding principles of the sport system.”