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Serie A in crisis as players announce strike
Italy's association of soccer players announced a strike Friday for the weekend of Sept. 25-26 due to a contract dispute.
The dispute centres around a proposal by club presidents to limit players from refusing transfers, as defender Fabio Grosso recently did with Juventus following an offer from AC Milan.
The strike coincides with the season's first high-profile match, with AS Roma scheduled to host Inter Milan on Sept. 25 in a meeting of the top two clubs from last season.
The clubs' proposal stipulates that when a player has a year remaining on his contract, he must accept a transfer to another, equally competitive club that guarantees the same financial treatment. If the player doesn't accept the transfer, he must come to a mutual contract resolution with the club, according to the proposal.
The strike was announced in a statement read by AC Milan defender Massimo Oddo, signed by the captains and union representatives of all 20 Serie A clubs.
Oddo said the strike "will definitely go on, independent of the decisions taken in the next board meeting, and it will be extended if suitable agreements are not made," adding that the players "are tired of being treated like objects and not like people."
Players' association (AIC) president Sergio Campana said he hadn't seen the players take such "a decisive and universal stand" in years.
"There hasn't been any respect for the AIC considering that we've haven't been told anything and have had to read the news in the newspapers," Campana said, according to the ANSA news agency.
Campana added that Italian football federation president Giancarlo Abete had called the parties to a meeting in Rome on Monday.
"We hope that there will be positive developments," Campana said.
Players also went on strike in March 1996 due to several issues, including the Bosman ruling, which established the right of players to switch clubs freely once their contracts expired and found that the strict limits on foreigners were illegal.
