Premier League clubs have promised to work closely with specialist e-crime police officers to clamp down on racist abuse on internet message boards and Twitter aimed at footballers, pundits and fans.
It was one of several initiatives to emerge from a No 10 summit convened to discuss racism and homophobia within the game that also included a new scheme to encourage more coaches and managers from black and minority ethnic backgrounds.
The meeting brought together football governing bodies, ministers, campaign groups and ex-players to discuss discrimination in the sport in light of recent high-profile incidents involving Liverpool's Luis Suárez and England captain John Terry.
Suárez was banned for eight matches by an independent FA tribunal following an incident involving Manchester United's Patrice Evra. Terry is due in court in July on a charge of racially abusing Queens Park Rangers defender Anton Ferdinand, which he denies.
After the meeting, David Cameron, the prime minister, paid tribute to the progress that had been made since the 1980s to eradicate racism on the pitch and in the stands. But he added that there should be no complacency.
"We must address problems which could, if left unchecked, threaten to undo much of the hard work that has been done," he said.
"Football must do more to be inclusive, in order that the beautiful game is truly open to all players, managers, coaches and supporters. Today's announcements mark a further step towards this goal. We will continue to work in partnership to confront discrimination within the sport."
The government promised to invest £3m in the FA's new St George's Park national coaching centre in order to help broaden access to people of all backgrounds.
A new bursary scheme funded by the football authorities will help meet the cost of Uefa coaching licences and provide mentoring opportunities at Football League and Premier League clubs.
The meeting was attended by the FA chairman David Bernstein, as well as representatives from the Football League, the Premier League, the Professional Footballers' Association and the League Managers Association.
Campaign groups including Kick It Out, Show Racism the Red Card and the Gay Football Supporters' Network were represented, as well as former players including John Barnes, Paul Elliott and Graeme Le Saux.
Amal Fashanu, the niece of the late Norwich City striker Justin Fashanu who recently made a BBC documentary on the subject of football and homophobia, also attended.
Elliott, the former Chelsea and Celtic defender who has become a prominent campaigner, said the debate was "very productive and engaging".
He added: "What was evident there was leadership and the collective effort by football. Cameron is more than well justified in bringing all these parties together. The important thing is that we don't rest on our laurels and look to the challenges ahead."
The Premier League said it would work with the Metropolitan police e-crimes unit to better monitor the levels of racist abuse on Twitter, other social networks and internet message boards and prosecute offenders where possible.
The government also called on football authorities to take more proactive action to combat homophobia in its response to a recent select committee report.
Following the summit, Football League chairman Greg Clarke signed a government charter to tackle homophobia and transphobia on behalf of its 72 clubs. The Premier League signed the charter last year.
Meanwhile, José Mourinho was the subject of a complaint by a gay rights group after he allegedly used a Spanish homophobic insult about match officials. The Real Madrid manager was accused by the European Gay and Lesbian Sports Federation (EGLSF) of referring to officials as "maricones", which translates as "faggots" in English, before the Champions League tie against CSKA Moscow.
Louise Englefield, co-president of the EGLSF, called on Uefa to take action over the comments, which were shown on the Spanish television channel Quatro.
She said: "Homophobia is unacceptable from anyone in football, much less from one of the game's most senior figures. We are deeply disappointed that Mr Mourinho is casually using homophobic terms of abuse in his workplace."
Covering the racism story for ITV, reporter Richard Pallot twice referred to black footballers as "coloured". The remarks led to dozens of comments on Twitter and prompted the broadcaster to issue an aoplogy.
An ITV News spokesman said: "ITV News apologises for the inappropriate use of the word 'coloured' in a report on racism and football in today's News at 1.30pm. We take this error very seriously and we regret any offence caused."
