Penrith Captain Petero Civoniceva has revealed he has been the target of racist taunts throughout his career and fears incidents will cast a "dark shadow" over rugby league.

Spectator Sper Vega was banned from all NRL matches for five years for calling Civoniceva a "black monkey" at Parramatta last Sunday.

In a statement in the Sydney Herald today, Civoniceva said with the amount of guys from different ethnic backgrounds in the game, they have to start setting the tone for what they want and for the standards they need to set in the game.

Civoniceva adds that the last thing they would want is for the sport to end up like European soccer, where racism is a real issue.

Civoniceva, one of the most respected figures in the game, said he was content with how the issue was handled and hoped the drama would remind fans about their responsibilities.