FIFA president Sepp Blatter has praised Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng for his courage after he walked off the pitch in protest at racial abuse.

However, Blatter wants a definite action to curb such incidents while explaining that the AC Milan player's reactions were not a long-term solution to the problem.

"If a player walks off the pitch because he has been racially abused, just as AC Milan player Kevin-Prince Boateng did, it is a strong and courageous signal, a way of saying it has gone too far," Blatter said at the Player of the Year ceremony on Monday.

"It is praiseworthy but it cannot be the solution in the long term, we have to find other solutions to get to the root of the problem, otherwise such stands will be made in isolation and will get lost.

"Football must not separate people."

Boateng took his shirt off and walked off the pitch after being racially abused in a friendly against a lower tier side.

The other Milan players including Ghana's Sulley Muntari followed him and the match was abandoned.