Italian football was once again soured by disgusting racist abuse from fans over the weekend.

Hellas Verona supporters were heard directing monkey chants at Brescia striker Mario Balotelli and the Italian striker responded by booting the ball towards those abusing him in the stands.

Balotelli tried to walk off the pitch, but his teammates convinced him to stay on and finish the game.

The striker then aptly scored the winning goal of the match in the 85th-minute, but the football world is still reeling from yet more disgusting abuse from cowardly 'fans'.

And to make matters worse, councillors in the city of Verona are now trying to take legal action against Balotelli.

Gazzetta dello Sport, per Reuters, have published a motion sent to the Verona council by four councillors, which reads: "The mayor and the legal offices of the municipality should take legal action against the footballer and all those who attack Verona by unjustly defaming it.”

The motion added: “It is no longer fair that Verona is put in the dock when, as in this case, nothing happened.”

Absolutely disgusting.

As we reported on the weekend HERE, the abuse aimed at Balotelli can be clearly heard in a video taken by a fan in the section where the striker booted the ball.

The level of denial over racist abuse in Italy from those in power is frankly despicable and any attempts to reverse the horrible trend are being soured by it.

At the start of the season, Romelu Lukaku was subjected to racist abuse by Cagliari fans, but once again, so many denied it.

Inter Milan's Ultras even published a letter defending the actions of Cagliari fans.

Italian football and Serie A have a serious problem and those in charge need to start implementing far stricter punishments to eradicate it.