Inter Milan fans have been banned by police from distributing tens of thousands of whistles with which they were planning a noisy return for hero turned 'traitor' Romelu Lukaku this weekend.

Police have ordered that the Serie A leaders' hardcore supporters not hand out the whistles for reasons of public safety, angering fans who were ready to create a din on Sunday evening when Lukaku arrives with his new club Roma.

"The whistles have been banned, yet another violation," said Inter's ultras on their Instagram page on Friday.

Earlier this month the Curva Nord Milano group had announced that they would hand out 50,000 whistles for Sunday's match, when Lukaku plays against Inter for the first time since leaving in controversial circumstances.

Lukaku was once the idol of Inter fans, winning the Serie A title in 2021 before being sold for well over 100 million euros to Chelsea that summer.

He returned to the San Siro club on loan last year but was dogged by injury and largely kept out of the team by Edin Dzeko.

His mooted permanent move to Inter broke down this summer as the club found out he had been making noises towards fierce rivals AC Milan and Juventus, so Lukaku and Chelsea eventually accepted a loan deal with Roma.

Lukaku scored in Thursday night's 2-0 win over Slavia Prague in the Europa League to take his Roma tally to eight in all competitions since signing for Jose Mourinho's side in late August.

Mourinho -- who won the treble with Inter in 2010 -- is suspended for the match after being sent off at the end of last weekend's home win 1-0 against Monza which moved Roma up to seventh, three points off the Champions League positions.

td/bsp