Serie A players say they will go on strike on the weekend of Dec. 11 and 12 after Italian players' union representative Sergio Campana walked out on talks with the Italian league over a new collective bargaining agreement.
Campana left the negotiations Tuesday despite a Nov. 30 deadline for reaching a resolution to the dispute between the sides, according to ANSA news agency reports.
The union is refusing to accept a proposal that clubs be allowed to force unwanted players to train away from the first team or accept a transfer.
"The decision to strike comes from the repeated refusal of the League to accept the AIC's proposals, only discuss six of the eight points and exclude those that concern training away from the team and forced transfers," the union said in a statement.
Italian Football Association President Giancarlo Abete joined the talks but failed to find a breakthrough.
"We are bound by the decision of the AIC executive that a strike would take place on Dec 11 and 12 if we couldn't find an accord," AIC Vice President Leonardo Grosso said.
"We left the League upstairs with the Football Association and Abete," Grosso said. "We agreed on six of the points, but we cannot accept the seventh, which concerns players left out of the squad."
League President Maurizio Beretta criticized the union's position.
"The decision to strike is irresponsible and without reason," Beretta said. "I am dumbfounded by the AIC's decision to leave the negotiating table while President Abete was showing the draft proposal prepared by the Football Association. It is a day without precedent."
Abete will now accompany the sides to a hearing at the Italian Olympic Committee on Wednesday.
Serie A players went on strike in March 1996 over several issues, including the Bosman ruling, which established the right of players to switch clubs freely once their contracts expired.
