The Italian Football Federation has stunned Serie A clubs by reducing the number of non-EU players Italian clubs can register each season from two to one.

The Lega Calcio - the body that protects the interests of those clubs in Serie A - hasn't welcomed the news.

"The Lega doesn't want to reduce the number from two to one," Sergio Campana, the President of the Italian Footballers Association, said.

"We need to start a policy that limits the foreigners and values the academies. The reduction from two to one has been passed by the Federal Counsel even though the Lega wasn't agreed."

Lazio President Claudio Lotito is one of the first to condemn the ruling.

The Biancocelesti had deals lined up to sign two non-EU players this summer and will now have to shelve them, hindering their pre-season.

"This decision penalises some Serie A clubs who had table bids that now cannot be concluded," Lotito said. "Perhaps it was better to postpone the decision until the next transfer window [in January].

"This solution will not resolve all of Italian football's problems, but now is not the moment to make trials."