The Italian footballers' association has been sabre-rattling for months after a collective contract between the trade union and the league guaranteeing players' basic rights expired in the close-season and talks over a renewal faltered.
"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 in the city.
The players' association, which did strike in 1996 over similar grievances, has threatened to strike again several times in recent seasons over an array of disputes but it has stepped back from the brink or come to an agreement with bosses.
"There will definitely be a strike," said union member Oddo, a 2006 Italy World Cup winner who now rarely plays for Milan.
"The strike is against the lack of a new collective contract but also the fact we players feel we are treated like objects."
"To call a strike is an extreme choice," league chief Maurizio Beretta said in a statement having arranged his own hastily arranged news conference in Rome.
"The idea of arriving at the negotiating table with a loaded gun is not the best way to forge agreement."
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.
"Owners are trying to get more
