ROME -- Italys Serie A moved closer to a strike Wednesday after the topflight clubs voted 18-2 against adopting a collective contract signed by the players, increasing the possibility that Saturdays planned start of the season will be delayed. The clubs are standing firm in their desire to make two changes to the text. Club officials want to change the wording of article 7 so that coaches can force unwanted players to train away from the first team and they also want an addition to article 4 stating that players will pay a new solidarity tax that applies to high-wage earners. "The text signed by the players association cant be signed if those two points are not integrated," Serie A president Maurizio Beretta said. The players announced earlier this month that they will strike if a new collective contract is not signed before the season opens. Cagliari and Siena were the two clubs that voted in favour of the contract. After the vote, the Italian soccer federation postponed a potentially decisive meeting to Thursday. "At the moment the conditions are not right to play," players association president Damiano Tommasi said, according to the ANSA news agency. "The leagues requests are (being used as an excuse). The federation meeting was postponed but I dont see what could change." The conflict between the players and the league has been ongoing since the last collective contract expired in June 2010. The players set two strike dates during the first half of last season, both of which were avoided with last-minute verbal agreements. Meanwhile, coaches association president Renzo Ulivieri chained himself to the gates of the soccer federation to protest a move allowing lower-level clubs to hire unlicensed coaches. Serie A is due to start on Saturday with Fiorentina at Siena in a Tuscan derby and defending champion AC Milan at Cagliari. On Sunday, its: Napoli vs. Genoa; Atalanta vs. Cesena; Bologna vs. Roma; Inter Milan vs. Lecce; Lazio vs. Chievo Verona; Novara vs. Palermo; Parma vs. Catania; and Udinese vs. Juventus. A strike by Spanish club players has already wiped out the opening weekend of the Liga. While there have been numerous other threats over the years, the only time Serie A players went on strike was in March 1996. Among the issues then was the Bosman ruling, which established the right of players to switch clubs freely once their contracts expired, and found that the strict limits on foreigners were illegal. wholesale nfl jerseys . "I took for granted your support and your love for the Oilers," said Daryl Katz in the open letter. "That was wrong, and I apologize. "The simple fact is that the Oilers need Edmonton, and Edmonton needs the Oilers. cheap nfl jerseys . The 25-year-old German made his F1 debut in 2010 with Williams and captured a pole position in his maiden year. 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Because of that combination, Canadas mens water polo team are, at first glance, sitting pretty heading into the Olympic Qualification tournament in Edmonton starting April 1. When London, Ontarios Dr. Margo Mountjoy crossed the Atlantic to the "other" London as one of the FINAs (the world aquatics governing body) representatives, she had no idea of the integral role that she would play in Canadas water polo fortunes. The reason for her trip was to serve as an observer of the Olympic water polo qualification draw. The process is strictly governed by FINA to ensure compliance and fairness. The 12 countries involved are seeded by their performances in World and regional events and the rankings are displayed on the FINA website prior to the draw. Each of these countrys flags are emblazoned on a small ball. The top two seeds are then placed into a "blind" box. One ball is pulled out and that country is placed in Group A while the remaining ball is automatically placed in Group B. This process is repeated five more times giving each group six teams. The only step remaining was the need for someone to draw the balls from the box. "I was just sitting in the room watching the preparations when suddenly I heard my name being requested to step to the front to make the draws," said Dr. Mountjoy. "No one warned me and I had no idea they would ask me." Was she nervous, especially when it came time to deal with the Canadian selection? "I wasnt nervous doing the draw," Dr. Mountjoy reflected. "I was far more concerned with my role as FINA rep, ensuring that the draws were done fairly, completely according to the by-laws and with nothing that wouldnt stand up to the closest scrutiny." Someone who did admit to nervousness was Canadian Head Coach Dragan Jovanovic, who also witnessed the draw in person. "You have to beat the teams anyway to make it to the Olympics," Jovanovic emphasized. "That said, there are different paths you can take depending on the draw you get. I wasnt concerned about the team being in either Montenegros or Spains group (Canada ended up with Spain). We couldnt be in the same group as Germany (drawn out of the box with Canadas ball in the box). "However, the next three draws which involved Romania/Brazil in the third round, Greece/Argentina in the fourth round and Holland/Venezuela in the fifth round were of significant interest as they would determine what kind of round robin and quarter-final we would have. Unfortunately,, the draws put all three stronger European teams in the other group.dddddddddddd." While this may seem like reverse logic to the casual observer, Jovanovic had an explanation. "In this draw, no matter how we finish in our group to make the quarter-final game, we will face a very difficult opponent because the stronger teams are in the other group." So Canada is in Group B along with Spain, Brazil, Argentina, Venezuela and Turkey. The chance of playing in the crucial quarter-final crossover match is virtually a given. Canada has beaten Brazil the last few times they have met and has easily defeated Argentina and Venezuela. Not so for the teams in Group A where Montenegro, Germany, Romania, Greece, Holland and Macedonia form a difficult all-European group. April 6 is the critical day in the week-long qualification tournament. The four quarter-final crossover matches will determine which teams earn the four available slots. If things go according to form, the draw will allow Canada to finish second in Group B and gain a quarter-final match against the third place finisher in Group A. The likely candidates for that critical crossover game are Romania, Greece and Holland. That is where things could get interesting. Four years ago at the Olympic qualification tournament in Oradea, Romania, the event came down to one game between Canada and the hosts for the final spot at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Canada had lost by 10 goals to the Romanians a week before the qualification but stunned the hosts in a historic match for Canadian water polo and qualified for the Olympics. The distinct possibility exists for the exact same qualifying scenario to occur, only this time Canada assumes the role of the home team. It will be up to the current Canadian roster to ensure that the result is the same from Canadas perspective. The Canadian core of three outstanding, international level stars is back, led by goaltender Robin Randall and power forwards Kevin Graham and Aaron Feltham with Nic Constantin-Bicari playing the role of new star at centre forward. Although Jovanovic has already trimmed his squad down to 15 players, he has two tough cuts to make prior to the Technical Meeting on the 31st. At that point Jovanovic will have his roster down to the 13 man limit that will open the qualification tournament April 1st against Venezuela. George Gross Jr. is water polos iron man, having played in 170 games, twice representing Canada at the Olympic Games (Montreal 1976 and Los Angeles 1984.) He will serve as CTVOlympics Water Polo analyst in London 2012. ' ' '