Lega Calcio chief Mario Beretta says the Italian Players' Association risks a backlash over their strike plans.

The AIC (Players' Association) announced yesterday that it would go on strike for the weekend of September 25-26.

It is a protest against the failure to renegotiate the collective bargaining contract that expires later this year.

"This is truly an extreme gesture and a very grave attitude that risks backfiring," warned Lega Calcio Serie A President Beretta.

"The idea of sitting down to the negotiating table with a loaded pistol is not the best way to reach an agreement.

"We're talking about 500-600 people with average salaries of €1.5m. It's a terrible message to those in the lower levels of Italian football who are facing genuinely serious economic problems."