Italy strike proves player power is growing

The strike is over the lack of a collective contract between the trade union and the clubs guaranteeing players' basic rights.

The association is also unhappy with clubs trying to force its members to move teams before the end of their contracts when they are no longer required.

Now the boot is on the other foot and it is the players in Serie A who feel they are "being treated like objects" by clubs who tell them they are no longer wanted and try to force them to move teams irrespective of having a contract.

Some Serie A club bosses want to be able to rip up the final year of an underperforming or overly expensive player's contract and only pay him 50 percent of what he would have been due that season to make him leave for another club.

The strike could have implications for other football and sports leagues all over the world. The Italian players' association, which has held strikes in the distant past, has recently talked of striking again over a series of disputes but they were often viewed as empty threats.