'Consider it a form of respect': Inter Milan ultras tell Lukaku monkey chants are 'not racism'

Ultras of Italian football team Inter Milan have written to striker Romelu Lukaku to inform him that the monkey chants directed at him by away fans during a match at Cagliari are "a sign of respect" and "not racist".

Fans of the Sardinian team were caught on camera abusing the Belgian forward, a summer signing for Inter, with monkey chants as he converted the winning 72nd-minute penalty in a 2-1 win on Sunday.

Inter fanatic group L'urlo della Nord penned a letter on Facebook that began "Hi Romelu" and addressed from Curva Nord, that bizarrely did not condemn the abuse towards their own player, but went on to detail how the chants were simply “ways” fans in Italy “help our teams”.

"You have to understand that in all Italian stadiums people cheer for their teams but at the same time they use to cheer against the opponents not for racism but to “help” their own team,"the statement, published on Tuesday, read.

"Please consider this attitude of Italian fans as a form of respect for the fact they are afraid of you for the goals you might score against their teams and not because they hate you or they are racist."

Upon scoring the penalty, Lukaku, an £80 million ($90 million) purchase from Manchester United in the summer, glared at rival supporters as soon as he scored his spot-kick. Afterwards he took to Instagram to call on football federations and social media platforms to combat discrimination.

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The same group of fans targeted forward Moise Kean last season, as well as Blaise Matuidi and Sulley Muntari in recent years. Remarkably, Cagliari escaped punishment from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) for each incident.