Indeed, you highlight an important aspect of the debate; that being, we can do more than we do now, and that when situations are easy to judge, the punishments need to act as a deterrent and send a clear message that the culture of football will not accept this behaviour in any form. Sadly, I think this is a reason why Italian football has so many problems. Historically, they have just not done enough about it, and I think that largely stems from the power of some ultra groups there, and how politically motivated some are.
I remember about 20 years back, when Italy first picked the very talented Fabio Liverani (I think he was half Somalian, and Italy's first BAME player) that he took some incredible stick from opposition fans. Lazio at the time were given a stadium ban of one match for a frankly disgusting display of flagrant, widespread racism in a Roma derby game (which I think even involved Ultra Groups physically targeting and attacking a Roma Brazilian black player, cant remember his name, at a restaurant), but they were allowed to sell tickets to their fans and use another stadium, so the punishment amounted to nothing. The following year, they bought Liverani, and he was welcomed by signs saying "Your place is not here; its in the gas chambers of Auschwitz". The Lazio ultras regularly used to graffiti the training ground walls at their displeasure of signing a black player. Not only did these events go unpunished, but Liverani scored a goal against a smaller club around this time, in a game he'd been abused for 90 minutes, and he then made a gesture of his hand to his ear to the home fans; think he was banned and was forced into a grovelling apology to some Neo-Nazis, while the fans conduct was dismissed as "normal". Imagine having to do that!!
It goes back a while and might seem irrelevant, but these issues in the early 2000s/late 90s stem from general populism in politics of Italy, reacting to the first wave of immigration from non-white countries that appeared in the country around this time. Sadly, the inaction of those days has lead to a normalcy of this type of behaviour in certain sections of crowds, and it remains unchecked and allowed to manifest itself.
Its about time UEFA stepped in and started to take European places away everytime an issue like this happens, and nothing is done about it. If the situation is more nuanced, then fine; we approach that when it comes, but if you have a camera and can identify faces in the crowd who are nazi saluting, or holding bananas, or throwing bananas, or monkey chanting.... then ban these people from stadiums for all their life. Once you start to do this, people will stop doing it as much. If you dont do anything, why would they stop?
Two examples spring to mind here; I remember Balotelli crying on the bench after being subjected to horrendous chants in a Milan derby vs Inter; the tv footage from at the base of the stand showed clearly who was doing it, who was holding inflatable bananas. They werent removed from the stand. They werent banned. Cagliari fans too apparently are regularly shopped in by their fellow fans to the Italian FA for being racist; the fans are then not punished. The second example is Eto'o..... I still remember the footage again of clear, identifiable faces in the crowd holding their hands up in a Nazi Salute.
The Spanish FA did actually identify these people; I think they all got stadium bans..... for a handful of games
We need to do more. No players should be subject to this nonsense. We need to stand with them and make sure the minority elements are not allowed to continue to spoil the game for anyone else.