All 20 clubs from Serie A have written a joint open letter to ask for help in dealing with the issue of racism.

Italian football has seen a rise in racist incidents at matches this season with Romelu Lukaku having been the victim of monkey chants at Cagliari, while Mario Balotelli threatened to walk off the pitch following abuse at Verona.

A campaign, which sources have told ESPN FC was launched by AC Milan, has seen every club in Italy's top flight join forces to seek assistance in combatting the problem.

"We have to publicly recognise that we have a serious problem with racism," the letter read. "It's a problem that we have not done enough to combat over the years.

"Images of players being racially abused in Italian football have been viewed and discussed all around the world this season and that shames us all.

"No individual should ever be subjected to racist abuse -- inside or outside of football -- and we can no longer stay silent on this issue or wait for it to magically disappear.

"Driven by the clubs, positive conversations have been held in recent weeks with Lega Serie A, FIGC and international experts on how to tackle and eradicate this issue from the game.

"We, the undersigned clubs, are united by our desire for serious change and Lega Serie A has stated its intention to lead the way by delivering a comprehensive and robust Serie A anti-racism policy, stricter new laws and regulations and a plan for educating those within the game about the scourge of racism.

"We don't have any more time to waste. We must now act with speed, with purpose and with unity and we call on you, the fans, to support us in this vitally important endeavour.

"Yours sincerely,

"Atalanta, Bologna, Brescia, Cagliari, Fiorentina, Genoa, Hellas Verona, Inter Milan, Juventus, Lazio, Lecce, AC Milan, Napoli, Parma, AS Roma, Sampdoria, Sassuolo, SPAL, Torino, Udinese."

Information from ESPN FC's Andrew Cesare Richardson was used in this report