MILAN, Italy (AP) — FIFA president Sepp Blatter was “appalled” when he learned that AC Milan’s match against Roma was suspended because of racist chanting.

Sunday’s game was stopped for 97 seconds during the second half when visiting Roma supporters would not stop chanting at Milan players Mario Balotelli and Kevin-Prince Boateng. The league fined Roma (euro) 50,000 (US$64,865) yesterday.

“Appalled to read about racist abuse in Serie A last night (Sunday),” Blatter tweeted yesterday. “Tackling this issue is complex, but we’re committed to action, not just words.”

Blatter added that FIFA’s taskforce against racism and discrimination, headed by CONCACAF president and FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, is “serious about devising a unified approach for FIFA’s 209 members”.

Referee Gianluca Rocchi made the decision to suspend the match briefly after warnings issued over the stadium speaker system went unheeded. Roma captain Francesco Totti had also attempted to calm the fans to no avail.

This was the first time a Serie A match was suspended due to racism.

Balotelli was born in Italy to Ghanaian immigrants and is the star forward of Italy’s national squad. Boateng was born in Germany to a German mother and a Ghanaian father and plays for Ghana’s national team.

The match at Milan’s San Siro stadium ended 0-0.

Roma general director Franco Baldini contested whether the chants were racist.

“The boos were directed at Balotelli because he’s a feared player,” Baldini said, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport. “The nature of the chants was not clear. And I clearly heard the Milan fans chanting ‘romano bastardo’ — ‘Roman bastard’ — which is just as discriminatory. It’s difficult to figure out where the border is between racial discrimination or simple boos.”

In January, Boateng famously walked off the field with his teammates after enduring racist abuse during a friendly against a fourth-tier Italian club.

Meanwhile, the English Football Association is due to vote this week to introduce minimum five-game bans for racial abuse.

People familiar with the situation say the sanction will rise if there are aggravating circumstances. It has been proposed in response to concerns about a resurgence of racism in English football.

In the past two years, Liverpool striker Luis Suarez and Chelsea captain John Terry have been banned for racial abuse. Suarez was suspended for eight games, while Terry received half that punishment.