Start of Italian season threatened by strike

The Italian players' union (AIC) has threatened to call a strike for the first weekend of the Serie A season if players and clubs do not reach a compromise over a new collective labour agreement. "If we do not sign the new labour agreement, the first round of fixtures will be delayed," said AIC president Damiano Tommasi following a fruitless meeting with club representatives in Milan on Tuesday. The opening day of the Spanish season had to be called off at the weekend after players there went on strike in a dispute over unpaid salaries, but while strikes were mooted in Italy several times last season, they were never carried out. "After a year of this, we cannot call this a threat," added former Roma and Italy midfielder Tommasi. "The fact is we cannot start the new season without a new labour agreement. "You will have to ask the League (Lega) what the chances are of us agreeing a deal. "We want to start the season because it will mean that a collective labour agreement has been signed." Last year the AIC called a strike for the weekend of December 11 and 12, only to postpone it on December 9 after a verbal agreement was reached with the clubs. However, that verbal agreement has never translated into a written one. There are two major points of contention: players are refusing to agree to train alone if their club decides that they are no longer in their plans, and are also against clubs being allowed to settle the final year of the contract of any player they no longer want.