As stirring music plays in the background, the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Gareth Bale each appear on the screen to say three simple words - "no to racism" - in their respective languages.

It is a tool designed to show the whole of football is behind the fight against an element of the game that simply will not go away.

After all, who better to disseminate the message than some of the game's most high-profile names?

Unfortunately, in some parts of the world, their sentiment is still being ignored. Last weekend, Pescara's Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari was subjected to racist abuse from a section of the Cagliari supporters during a match in Serie 'A', Italy's top division.

The 32-year-old was evidently riled - and rightly so - from the abhorrent behaviour among Cagliari's so-called "fans". So much so that he voiced his protestations to referee Daniele Minelli. The response? Muntari was shown a yellow card.

Booked for complaining about racism. Booked for informing Minelli and his assistants of the appalling actions of the Cagliari crowd.

It was to get worse for the midfielder. An angry response to the first yellow, which saw him walk off the pitch in protest at what he thought was unjust treatment from the officials, brought a second.

Show racism the red card? Not exactly.

It is here where officials and referees often let themselves down; they are desperate to impress watching assessors and, as a result, are frightened to do anything other than adhere strictly to the rulebook.

Common sense was what was needed. Instead, the decision from Minelli made no sense.

We have seen countless examples of this in the past, particularly when players remove their shirt to reveal a message of sympathy for a recently-deceased loved one, or to show solidarity with those affected and involved by a recent tragedy, only to be greeted with a booking from the referee.

Minelli, in this case, should simply have known better. The Italian should have read the situation, understood its nature and acted accordingly but, more importantly, he should have heeded the concerns raised constantly by Muntari. 

Instead, he gave the 32-year-old his marching orders - a decision which has sparked widespread condemnation from anti-racism campaigners, pundits and players alike.

Thankfully, the Italian Football Federation - led by Carlo Tavecchio, a man who as recently as 2014 was found to have made inappropriate comments related to bananas and foreign players in the country - has seen the sense that eluded the referee and have overturned the one-game ban given to Muntari as a result of his understandable and justifiable protest.

The game let itself down once more, however, in relation to Muntari's appeal, which he filed without the support of Pescara, his parent club. The very team he plays for opted not to be in his corner at a time when he needed them most.

FIFPro said in statement that were "pleased that Sulley Muntari's one-match ban has been rescinded on appeal by the Italian Football Federation".

"The World Players' Union believes Muntari was badly let down when he received two yellow cards after he unsuccessfully sought help from the referee over racist abuse while playing for Pescara in Cagliari, Italy, last weekend," they added.

"FIFPro is surprised that Muntari's club, Pescara, did not lodge an appeal to overturn the sanction.

"It took a last-minute appeal by the Ghanaian himself, assisted by the Italian players union, Associazione Italiana Calciatori (AIC), to have the ban rescinded."

The attitude of the club is symptomatic of the way football continues to struggle to deal with the racism in football issue. Why did they not help their player? Why did they not stand side-by-side with Muntari to demonstrate to the Cagliari fans and football in general that racism will not be tolerated?

While the days where racism was so engrained in the game that it was accepted are in the past, incidents of players being targeted by home fans purely for the colour of their skin remain a blemish on the sport, particularly in countries like Italy and Balkan nations such as Serbia.

Punishments are a key bone of contention. There are some who believe Minelli should have stopped the game when he was alerted of the racist behaviour from the Cagliari section, while former Tottenham Hotspur striker Garth Crooks, a trustee for British-based campaign group Kick it Out, went as far as saying all black players should go on strike in protest at the way Muntari was treated.

The discrepancy in sanctions worldwide is perhaps most blatantly demonstrated by the recent Football Association (FA) decision to ban Burnley midfielder Joey Barton for 18 months for breaching betting rules. By contrast, Chelsea's John Terry was suspended for four games for racially abusing then QPR defender Anton Ferdinand.

UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin recently claimed they would look to throw nations out of major tournaments who fail to tackle crowd issues such as violence and racism. Such rhetoric is admirable but it remains to be seen whether it is a strong enough deterrent.

The organisation and their counterparts over at FIFA, who disbanded their anti-racism task force last year after declaring their work had been done, impose sanctions ranging from fines to partial stadium closures. Italian clubs Lazio and Inter Milan have been threatened with this in light of recent incidents - and some suggest this does not go far enough.

Cagliari will not face punishment at all, with the Serie 'A' Disciplinary Committee claiming the fact only around 10 supporters engaged in the racist abuse hurled at Muntari means they cannot take the matter further; a stance as deplorable as it is laughable.

No wonder the Ghanaian, known to us in England through spells with Portsmouth and Sunderland, felt victimised.

"I feel that someone has finally listened and heard me," Muntari said in an interview with FIFPro.

"The last few days have been very hard for me. I have felt angry and isolated.

"I was being treated like a criminal. How could I be punished when I was the victim of racism?

"I hope my case can help so that other footballers do not suffer like me.

"I hope it can be a turning point in Italy and show the world what it means to stand up for your rights. This is an important victory to send a message that there's no place for racism in football, or society in general."

Fiona May, a double Olympic silver medallist in long jump and two-time world champion who is the anti-racism advisor for the Italian Football Federation, was also critical of the Disciplinary Committee and the referee.

"You can't put a number on how somebody can abuse a player on the pitch. How can somebody put a number on it?" she told the BBC World Service.

"They shouldn't have said that. It doesn't matter if it is just was one person or 100 people in a stand, it doesn't matter, they shouldn't be doing racist chants full stop.

"This shows how racism is more profound than everybody thought, even though we have been doing a lot of educational work. It shows they have got a lot of work still to do."