Italian football powers refuse to punish Cagliari for fans' racist chants against Muntari

Italian football authorities will not punish Cagliari for their fans' racial chants targeted at Ghana midfielder Sulley Muntari.

The incident which has been roundly condemned will not get a hearing from the Lega Serie A's disciplinary committee.

Muntari, a former AC and Inter Milan star walked off the pitch in protest after being racially abused by Cagliari fans during Pescara's 1-0 defeat in a Seria A game.

The Ghanaian attempted to draw the attention of the referee to the behaviour of the supporters but he was shockingly shown the yellow card.

The Lega Serie A's disciplinary committee confirmed on Tuesday that some racial chanting had indeed been heard but claimed they would take action because it came from a minority of the fans.

The disciplinary statement read: "Considering that the in-any-case deplorable racial discriminatory chants were only heard due to the fact that the fans were participating at the time in a silent protest, and that these were made by a total number of around 10 supporters, which is therefore less than one percent of the number occupying that sector of the ground (approximately 2,000), there are no grounds to punish this behaviour.

"It could not really be heard and, furthermore, was not heard by the referee (as mentioned in his match report)."