Rome, Sep 27 (IANS) The Italian football club Roma have handed a lifetime suspension to a fan for racially abusing Brazilian defender Juan Jesus on social media.

According to a BBC report, the development comes after anti-discriminatory body Fare said Italian football officials and their disciplinary systems to fight against racism were not fit for purpose.

Roma tweeted an image of the messages -- including details of the account -- and confirmed they had reported the same to the police.

Fare executive director Piara Powar added "the rot is deep" and "no-one is taking the issue seriously", but Serie A insisted it was "seriously and constantly engaged in activities against racism".

--IANS dm/aak/bc