Players call off weekend Serie A strike

The Italian players union has called off its planned strike which threatened to wipe out this weekend’s Serie A programme after the latest round of talks with league representatives on Tuesday.

The Italian Players’ Association (AIC) had threatnened to strike if clubs failed to reform the way players in the final year of their contracts were treated.

Tuesday’s announcement was made by AIC president Sergio Campana.

It followed a series of meetings last week after which representatives from both sides expressed optimism at reaching a deal before Saturday’s kick-offs.

The dispute was triggered by the recent expiry of a collective contract between the AIC and league bosses guaranteeing players’ rights.

The strike has been called off until the end of November, by which time the players hope a new deal will have been signed.

Campana said: “We will pursue talks until November 30 on condition that federation president Giancarlo Abete makes assurances on the two issues that we don’t yet have agreement on.

“They are on players who are to be sold on to be allowed to continue training with the team, and for clubs to drop plans to force players who are in their final year of contract and refusing to move to another club to buy out their contracts for 50 percent of their value.”