ITALIAN SERIE A:SERIE A players agreed yesterday to strike if a deal on a collective contract with the league is not reached by November 30th, throwing the Italian game back into chaos after a September walkout was avoided.
The two parties have been talking for weeks over Serie A’s proposals to force unwanted players to train away from the first team or accept a transfer, conditions the footballers’ union cannot agree to.
“The players’ association . . . will wait until November 30th to announce the date of a matchday strike,” the union said in a statement.
Italian soccer federation chief Giancarlo Abete has tried to mediate in the row but his suggestion that Serie A and the union discuss a new collective contract without mentioning unwanted players has been rejected by the league.
“The logic of the strike makes no sense,” Serie A president Maurizio Beretta told a hastily arranged news conference. “I think we would have the time and the means to reach a full agreement before November 30th. However, you can’t talk about some points and not others.”
The Serie A clubs’ stance has angered the already furious union, which believes it has made concessions in the collective contract which will define the basic rights of players. The existing contract expired in the close season.
Meanwhile, Alexandre Pato of league leaders AC Milan is poised to miss tomorrow’s derby against European champions Inter Milan with a thigh strain, meaning Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ronaldinho and Robinho are likely to lead the line given Filippo Inzaghi’s season-ending knee problem.
Clarence Seedorf is the only threat to Ronaldinho’s return as playmaker. Defenders Daniele Bonera and Gianluca Zambrotta are back in training after knocks, but are not expected to play, while Andrea Pirlo may return having been rested in Wednesday’s 3-1 win over Palermo because he risked suspension for the derby.
Inter’s injury woes are easing with goalkeeper Julio Cesar and midfielder Dejan Stankovic likely to return to the starting line-up, but right back Maicon is around two weeks from fitness.
Wesley Sneijder, who fainted with anaemia at half-time of last weekend’s draw with Brescia, should return.
