A GROUP of Inter Milan “ultra” fans have attempted to defend the racist chants aimed at striker Romelu Lukaku, telling him that it was a sign of respect.

Lukaku took to the social media on Sunday night after he was subjected to vile monkey chants prior to converting a penalty away to Cagliari.

This isn’t the first time the supporters have been caught on video hurling racist abuse at a black player.

But in a bizarre twist, Inter supporters have backed their opposing fans and explained the entire situation was a misunderstanding.

“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,” the fan group “L’Urlo della Nord” — translated to “Scream of the North” — said late on Tuesday.

“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 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.

“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.

“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. 

“True racism is a completely different story and all Italian football fans know it very well. 

“When you declare that racism is a problem to be fought in Italy you just help the repression against all football fans including us and you contribute to create a problem that is not really there, not in the way that is perceived in other countries.”

Lukaku converted Inter’s winning penalty kick against Cagliari on Sunday and then glared at home fans behind the goal as they directed monkey chants at him.

The fan statement caught the eye of former Chelsea and current Istanbul Basaksehir forward Demba Ba yesterday.

“And here’s the reason why I decided not to play there when I could,” Ba wrote of Serie A. “And at that point I wish all the black players would get out of this league!”

Lukaku called on football authorities and social media companies to do more to combat racism, and anti-racism organisation Kick It Out released a statement to the Star yesterday saying that they will be working with the football policing unit and the Crown Prosecution Service to work out an “efficient approach to identifying and punishing anyone who posts discriminatory abuse on Twitter.”

The statement said: “Kick It Out met with Twitter last week to discuss a number of continuing issues on their platform, relating to football — including abuse of professional players, the wider scale of online abuse, reporting procedures and legal enforcement of online hate crime.

“Online discrimination will not be resolved overnight, but we have collectively agreed on the following actions as a first step to ensure the issue is tackled effectively: 

“We will hold a meeting with the UK Football Policing Unit and the Crown Prosecution Service to discuss how we can best develop a collaborative, efficient approach to identifying and punishing anyone who posts discriminatory abuse on Twitter.

“We are inviting the football authorities — including the Football Association, the Professional Footballers’ Association, the Premier League and the English Football League — to meet Twitter alongside Kick It Out and to agree a collective action plan of what will be done to tackle online discrimination effectively.

“Twitter have agreed to use their platform and resources to support our specific campaigning work around football-related online discrimination.

“Kick It Out will continue to take a lead in bringing the football authorities and the legal system together to tackle online abuse. But what the public need most is Twitter to show decisive leadership and deliver concrete action for change — we expect to see that in the weeks and months ahead.”

Meanwhile, the Italian league’s disciplinary judge said he needs more evidence before deciding if Cagliari should be punished for the racist chants.

League judge Gerardo Mastrandrea did not even mention the word “racist” in his weekly report on Tuesday, referring only to “chants that were the subject of news articles and TV reports.”

Cagliari fans have a history of racism with Moise Kean, Blaise Matuidi and Sulley Muntari each subjected to vile chants when they played against Cagliari in recent seasons.

The Italian league did not sanction the Sardinian club for any of those incidents.