‘Lower leagues could strike’

By Football Italia staff

The Vice-President of the Italian players’ union confirms “we’ll call a strike” if Serie B goes ahead with 19 teams.

The division is supposed to have 22 teams, but Avellino, Bari and Cesena all failed to pass the financial checks to register, with the latter two declared bankrupt.

Rather than cancel relegations or promoted teams from Serie C, the Lega Serie B decided to go ahead with 19 teams, drawing the fixtures on Monday.

Ternana are appealing to be allowed into the division, and the AIC, the players’ union, is threatening strike action.

“It remains our idea, the contact with the players is pushing us in his direction,” Vice-President Umberto Calcagno confirmed to TuttoC.com.

“At the beginning of the week we’ll sanction a state of agitation, and if nothing changes we’ll call a strike in the divisions affected by this massacre, Serie B and Serie C.

“The reality is that 19 Serie B Presidents were favoured over the whole system.”

The Serie B players may not agree though…

“I don’t think that’ll be the case, they will think about the problems of all their colleagues and know that if a regulatory change of this kind could pass, we could find ourselves with fewer teams in C from one day to another.

“The Serie B players, in short, understand that this situation could create problems not only now for their colleagues but also for them in the coming seasons.”

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