Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti has threatened to take his team off the pitch if young striker Mario Balotelli is subjected to racist abused by Juventus fans during their the sides' Serie A clash next weekend.

Balotelli, 19, was the subject of sickening racist abuse by a minority of Bianconeri fans during a clash between the two Italian giants at the back end of last season, with chants of "a black Italian does not exist" reported.

This led to Juve being forced to play one game behind closed doors and with Serie A's top two set to meet again on December 5th at the Stadio Olimpico di Turin, the stage is set for another potentially explosive encounter.

On Thursday UEFA confirmed they were set to launch a probe into allegations that Juve fans sang racist songs about Balotelli during their side's 2-0 defeat away to Bordeaux in the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday.

This came just days after Juve were sanctioned and fined €20,000 by the Italian FA for racist chants against "Super Mario" during Sunday's narrow 1-0 win at home to Udinese.

With the match only one week away, Inter skipper Zanetti has warned that the Nerazzurri will not tolerate any kind of racial abuse come December 5th.

"If something happens then I will not hesitate to go to the referee and ask him to stop the game," he told La Gazzetta Dello Sport.