ITALY was bracing itself for a whole Sunday without football after the national players' union issued a strike call for next Sunday.
The move, announced yesterday by union president Sergio Campana and fully backed by Juventus captain Gianluca Vialli, escalated a row with the Italian federation over pension rights and the use of foreign players.
Campana said he was fed up with a lack of response from the federation, headed by Antonio Matarrese, over problems with the players' pension fund. He was also concerned about the implications for Italy of the European court ruling enabling teams to field as many EU nationals as they wish.
Vialli, a leading figure in the union, warned: "This is a turning point - this time we'll see things right through to the end because the problems are serious. We've always been kept out of things and it's just not good enough anymore.
"Up until now, strike calls had been made and then cancelled because we were soon able to find a solution. But that's not been the case this time."
The union has meanwhile boycotted a meeting with federation officials scheduled in Rome tomorrow.
Matarrese admitted there had been a delay in paying into the pension fund, but said it was a bureaucratic problem and that a cheque would be in the post before the end of the month.
