Milan: Serie-A players plan to strike during matches on September 25 and 26 because of a dispute over contracts, the Italian footballers' association said on Friday.
"The association, in perfect symphony with the players of Serie A, has decided not to go on the field for the fifth round of matches of the Serie A championship on September 25 and 26 in protest against requests to impose new contractual rules," AC Milan defender Massimo Oddo told a news conference.
A full programme of Serie-A games is planned for that weekend and if the strike goes ahead, it will cause havoc with television broadcasters and the league schedule for the rest of the season.
The players' association has threatened to strike several times in recent times over an array of disputes but it has always previously stepped back from the brink or come to an agreement with soccer bosses.
This time the weight of ill-feeling over a complex contract issue has been greater.
A collective contract between the association and the league guaranteeing players' rights expired in the close season and attempts to draft a new deal have faltered.
The top flight Serie A, which formed a breakaway division from the rest of the Italian league at the start of this term with club bosses vowing to run things their way, had said they would propose a new collective deal this Monday.
Allied to the absence of a collective agreement, the players' association has become alarmed by the trend of clubs trying to force players to move teams in the last year of their contracts when they are no longer wanted.
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