By David Gold
August 8 – A rift between the Italian league and players in Serie A has widened after all 20 captains of top flight teams signed a letter demanding that a dispute over a new collective player rights deal be resolved before the season starts, as the threat of a players strike increases.
With all the captains of the teams in Serie A, including Gennaro Gattuso (pictured) of AC Milan and Javier Zanetti of Inter Milan, signing the letter that calls on the league to resolve the row, a strike for the first weekend of the season at the end of the month appears increasingly likely.
“The previous agreement which was certified by the FIGC in December 2010 was ignored by the clubs, which was an unacceptable decision,” read the letter.
“The current situation threatens the players’ rights.
“Italy is today the major only football nation without contractual rules for the players and it is time to solve this situation.
“We reiterate that it will not be possible to start a new championship without the signing of the agreement.”
Damiano Tommasi, the former Roma and Italy midfielder who is now President of the Italian Footballers’ Association (AIC), had suggested last week that players in Serie A could go on strike if a new deal cannot be reached before the new season starts.
A similar threat was made last year after the previous deal expired, but a strike was averted after an agreement was eventually reached between the league and the players.
The main sticking point was that clubs wanted to limit the rights of players to refuse transfers, with teams able to transfer players with one year left on their contracts to another side offering the same or a better salary.
If a player did not agree to this, the clubs wanted to ensure that they then come to a deal over a new contract, to prevent the situation arising where a team has a high value player who will be able to leave on a free transfer at the end of the period of their contract.
A deal was eventually reached whereby all players with first team contracts were allowed to train with the first team, which the AIC signed.
The League President Maurizio Beretta is still yet to sign the deal though, which prompted Tommasi to warn that players would not take to the field for the first round of Serie A fixtures at the end of the month if the agreement wasn’t finalised.
“The collective agreement is signed and must be [by the league] before the season starts,” he told Sky Sport 24.
“Players are not being weighed down when on the pitch, but [Beretta] needs to put pen to paper.
“It is not an economic issue.
“The issue goes on from last season.
“I keep hearing them say that there what we’re nearly there, but that little bit that is missing on the League’s part never arrives.
“I’ve visited 90 per cent of the teams’ pre-season training camps and there is unity among the players.
“Last season, we decided not to stop the championship while it was still in progress but if we don’t arrive at a conclusion this time, it will not get under way.”
Speaking to the ANSA news agency, Beretta said: “We will not sign under these conditions and I don’t see why we should submit to a threat from Tommasi.
“The strike threat by the players is a serious and insensitive act, especially considering the general situation in the country.
“We mustn’t forget that we are talking about 800 players whose average wage is over €1 million (£868,000/$1.4 million) per year.”
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