Ex-Chelsea star Demba Ba calls for mass exodus from Serie A after Lukaku abuse

Demba Ba has called on all black players to leave Serie A in light of the most recent racist incident in Italy, revealing that the country's woeful record on discrimination has seen him turn down chances to move there in the past.

Ba was responding to an open letter written by Inter's Curva Nord ultras to Romelu Lukaku addressing the horrific scenes from Sunday night when he was targeted by Cagliari fans with monkey noises.

In it, they, incredibly, insisted that the chants aimed at the former Manchester United striker were not racist and suggested the player should interperet the abuse as a 'form of respect'.

Picking up on the astonishing explanation, which appeared on Facebook, an incensed Ba made his feelings known about the attempts to excuse their fellow Italian supporters.

'And here's the reason why I decided not to play there when I could... And at that point I wish all the black players would get out of this league!' he wrote on Twitter.

'Surely it won't stop their stupidity and hate but at least they won't affect other races.'

Lukaku had responded to the abuse he received before his match winning penalty on Instagram on Monday.

In his post, he wrote: 'Many players in the last month have suffered from racial abuse. I did yesterday too. Football is a game to be enjoyed by everyone and we shouldn't accept any form of discrimination that will put our game in shame.

'I hope the football federations all over the world react strongly on all cases of discrimination!!!

'Social media platforms (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook...) need to work better as well with football clubs because every day you see at least a racist comment under a post of a person or colour... we've been saying it for years and still no action...

'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'.

It followed on from comments made by his team-mate immediately after the game on Sunday evening.

Defender Milan Skriniar, who put his fingers to his lips after Lukaku had scored to shush the Cagliari fans, had told reporters: ''There are things that must not be in football, but unfortunately there are almost always still.'

However, taking umbridge with Lukaku's response, his own fans felt the need to step in and defend those who were behind the monkey noises.

A statement from Inter's most fanatical followers read: 'We are really sorry you thought that what happened in Cagliari was racist. You have to understand that Italy is not like many other north European countries where racism is a REAL problem.

'We understand that it could have seemed racist to you but it is not like that. In Italy 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.

'We are a multi-ethnic fans organization and we have always welcomed players from everywhere.

'However, we have always used that "way" with other teams' players in the past and we probably will in the future. We are not racist and so are not the Cagliari fans.'