Rome - Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has said he'll ask his team to leave the pitch in case of racist chants from the stands, the la Repubblica daily reported on Wednesday.

Juve were on Monday sentenced to play a home game behind closed doors because of racist slurs and chants that their fans aimed at Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli during the teams' Serie A game on the weekend.

"I'll call (Alessandro) Del Piero, our captain, then the other side's captain, then the fourth official and of course the referee," Ranieri said.

"We'll talk and will take the only possible decision: stopping the game. But before that we'll try another way. We'll go to the sector where the insults and chants come from and make fans understand with gestures and words that it would be better to stop.

"(If they don't get it) we'll get back to the changing rooms. Because this is the time to do it, without waiting any longer. Everything is off here; first of all the respect for the others and then politeness. It's a national, social problem, not only for football."

Ranieri said no measures were taken during Saturday evening's game because, from the pitch, it was impossible to hear the chants.

Other observers noted that the insults were easier to understand on television.

Juve appealed the sentence, claiming that their fans had not been guilty of racist behaviour before.

Balotelli, 18, is an Italy-born footballer born to a Ghanaian family. He was adopted at the age of 3 by an Italian family. (dpa)