Italian football crisis grows

Top clubs like European Champions AC Milan oppose the boycott

Football clubs from Italy's top two divisions have been discussing a protest which could cause major disruption to the first weekend of the new season.

A group of smaller teams from the top flight, Serie A, are considering whether to join a Serie B boycott of matches on Saturday and Sunday because of a dispute over television rights.

Club presidents from the two divisions postponed until Friday a decision on whether the season should go ahead on schedule after failing to reach agreement on Wednesday.

Nineteen clubs from the second division are currently protesting against a decision to expand it to include four clubs from lower divisions.

I hope that Serie A will start but if something doesn't change this week then I believe that the top flight will be stopped as well Gino Corioni Brescia club president

The fresh crisis follows a decision by the Italian football authorities to penalise the clubs involved for failing to take part in the group stages of the Italian Cup on Sunday.

Each team was deemed to have suffered a 3-0 defeat and had one point deducted.

The situation has now been complicated by differences between Rupert Murdoch's Sky Italia, which has the rights to broadcast the games of top Serie A teams, and a new consortium, Gioco Calcio, which is seeking to use part of Sky's platform to cover the games of six lesser clubs.

The two groups have so far failed to reach agreement despite weeks of negotiating, and barring a last-minute deal Gioco Calcio will be unable to broadcast.

POTENTIAL SERIE A REBELS Ancona Brescia Chievo Empoli Modena Perugia

"I hope that Serie A will start but if something doesn't change this week then I believe that the top flight will be stopped as well," said Gino Corioni, president of Brescia, one of the six.

Mr Corioni has also expressed support for the second division boycott.

But top clubs like Juventus, Inter and AC Milan, which is itself owned by Mr Berlusconi, are opposed, and have said they will seek compensation from the smaller clubs if the protest goes ahead.

Parliament recall

The decision to expand Serie B was taken by the Italian football federation (FIGC) last week, after Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi issued a decree giving it powers to override the courts.

The decree was designed to prevent legal action over relegation and television fees disputes from delaying the start of the football season.

The crisis led to a recall of parliament on Monday, despite holidays which normally last into September.

The Serie B teams say that the expansion of their division would force them to play more matches while diluting their earnings.

The row stems from a lawsuit brought by the Sicilian team Catania, challenging its relegation to Serie C at the end of last season.

The FIGC's ruling this week allowed it and two other teams to remain in Serie B - and also promoted Fiorentina from Serie C2.

FIGC chief Franco Carraro said that Fiorentina - which was one of Italy's most successful clubs before it went bankrupt last year - should be in the second division because it had many fans, and drew big TV audiences.