Serie A players announce December strike

Serie A football has plunged into chaos after the Italian Players’ Association (AIC) called a strike on the weekend of December 11-12.

The strike comes after talks between the AIC and the league regarding a new collective bargaining agreement for players broke down on Tuesday.

An earlier strike planned for September had been postponed and talks were said to be progressing, but the latest setback means a full round of Serie A matches are now in doubt.

“From our side there was willingness and availability, we sought an agreement but no agreement was reached. A strike has been declared for December 11-12,” AIC vice-president Leonardo Grosso said.

The match between Juventus and Lazio is the highest profile fixture to be affected, while Inter Milan, AC Milan and Roma are also scheduled to play on the strike-affected weekend.

Serie A president Maurizio Berretta slammed the decision by the players’ union, branding it ‘irresponsible’ and ‘dangerous’.

“Today’s meeting was incredible, without precedence in history,” Berretta said.

“The union refused to listen to the intervention of the federation president, which included the issue of players outside the squad. At that point they got up from the table and left.”

“We are participating in a dangerous and absurd massacre. The footballers’ strike is an irresponsible decision and isn’t based in reason.”

The strike comes just a week after Scottish referees took similar industrial action to illustrate their displeasure with the poor treatment of officials by clubs and players.