Serie A strike threat back on after talks stall
Reuters - Monday 25 October 2010, 18:21
MILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The threat of a Serie A players'
strike was revived on Monday when the footballers' union said
talks with the league had broken down.
A weekend strike was called in September with the union
angry with Serie A plans for a new collective contract which
would force players to accept transfers or a place outside the
first team squad if they were no longer wanted by clubs.
The strike was postponed after talks began again but the
union has now walked out, after previously saying negotiations
would go on until the end of November.
"An agreement with Serie A is a long way off," players'
union chief Sergio Campana said in a statement. "There has not
been a single step forward since September.
"Now we will talk with the players and decide together what
to do. We need the football federation's intervention."
The September strike was called off in part because the
union generally lacked public sympathy given the vast sums of
money top players earn during a time of global economic
hardship.
"A players' strike would be unjustified and grotesque,"
Serie A president Maurizio Beretta told reporters.