Int'l players' union FIFPro said that professional footballers in Chile "have announced strike action" for the weekend of July 22-24 if the Chilean FA (ANFP) "does not comply with the wishes" of the players’ association (SIFUP), according to Andrew Warshaw of INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL. One of the issues "is that the ANFP has apparently decided to scrap its proposal" -- made in agreement with SIFUP and other stakeholders -- to schedule the '16-17 season from February to December "instead of the existing calendar that runs from July until April." The ANFP has also decided that there will be no relegation from Primera B (second division) to the Segunda (third division) "and has postponed the start of the third division." FIFPro said that as a consequence, 420 players "are currently without a contract," most of them from the third division. SIFUP President Carlos Soto explained, "If there's no chance of going up, nobody will make an effort to recruit anyone else, and if no one is in danger of going down, the same will happen." On Monday during the SIFUP general assembly, players of all clubs in the two top divisions "unanimously agreed to halt competition" if a "binding negotiation table" could not be set up between ANFP, the board of presidents, SIFUP and the College of Football Coaches (INSIDE WORLD FOOTBALL, 7/14).
