Inter Milan v Tottenham: Spurs expect action from Uefa on racism

Last night's match at the San Siro was overshadowed by abuse

UEFA is expected to decide today whether Inter Milan will face action after racist abuse appeared to be directed at Tottenham players in last night's Europa League tie.

Spurs lost the last-16 second leg 4-1 after extra-time but progressed to the quarter-finals on away goals after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate.

However, the main talking point after the match revolves around the racist abuse directed at Tottenham players.

Monkey chants appeared to be aimed at several Spurs players, notably goalscorer Emmanuel Adebayor, while a fan was seen with an inflatable banana.

It is not the first time Spurs have had problems against Italian sides this season, with Lazio reprimanded for racist behaviour in both their Group J ties.

Inter have also recently been punished for racist abuse and manager Andre Villas-Boas expects governing body UEFA to act.

"It's a very sensitive situation," the Portuguese said. "UEFA set out to act on that situation.

"It was very, very easy to hear the chanting so I am sure that UEFA will act on it.

"It's difficult for Inter Milan because it is something that in some way has happened before.

"It doesn't mar the game but it is something that should have been avoided."

UEFA would not comment on the matter last night, a spokesperson saying the body would only be able to look in to the issue if it was mentioned in the match delegate's report, which is due to arrive today.

The fact Tottenham had to contend with more racist abuse understandably overshadowed what was a difficult night on the field.

Having romped to a 3-0 win the first leg, Spurs were outclassed at the San Siro as Antonio Cassano, Rodrigo Palacio and a William Gallas own goal took the game to extra-time.

Inter scored again through Ricardo Alvarez but not until after Adebayor scored the vital away goal.

"We set out to try and get a goal away that would put us in an extremely confident position," Villas-Boas said after the game.

"I think what happened to us was a bit like what happened to Inter in London.

"They are not as bad as their performance in London and we're not as a bad as the performance we showed today.

"There are still lots of positives in an evening like this because the desire to reach the last eight of the competition was always there from the players, even in extra-time, which is an excellent sign for us.

"I think the organisation wasn't there because their mind wasn't there. Every goal for Inter Milan was a boost of motivation for them and a knife in the back for us.

"We had a lot of problems in our organisation, which they did extremely well [to exploit] and is why we had a very, very hard game."

PA