A statement has been released by the Italian Players’ Association advising that it would not make up for financial incentives that would allow clubs to stop paying their staff. Yesterday the FIGC passed a series of resolutions, including steps to help Series A, B, and C clubs overcome the coronavirus pandemic’s financial challenges.
However, to ease the limitations that forbid a club from registering for the new season if they have not paid their employees in full, the Players’ Association (AIC) fears that it leaves so many gaps that can be abused. Today, the AIC has examined the Federation’s rulings and expressed our great surprise and disappointment at the decisions taken,” read Football Italia’s statement.
“There is immense disappointment in learning that clubs from all professional levels of the game can register for the 2020-21 season even if they paid only one month’s salary during the period March-June 2020. These are plans that we simply can not accept and will damage the financial security of most professional football players in Italy.”
The Federation only intends to confirm in August that the clubs paid wages for March, April, and May 2020, with the requirement that they only need to show that May 2020 has been compensated for March and April.
It is a stretch, because there were games in all three professional divisions in March, while all the players had to attend routine training sessions from home on their club ‘s instructions during the lockout.
The issue is that the clubs benefit from the chaos in the case of players and staff strike, which would be especially detrimental to those in Series C who do not get as much as they do in the top flight.
Despite this, the Players’ Union wants to see the implementation of a system that promotes collective bargaining that can fix issues rather than promote legal action.
