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. Sebastian Vollmer Jersey . 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. Logan Ryan Patriots Jersey . She was 30. The former British No. 1 died peacefully surrounded by family and friends, the Womens Tennis Association said on its website. The Kyiv-born Baltacha, who represented Britain at the 2012 London Olympics, was diagnosed with the illness in January, two months after retiring from tennis and only weeks after she married her long-time coach Nino Severino. Jordan Devey Patriots Jersey . -- A judge handed New England Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard another year of probation and 30 additional days in jail Thursday as a result of a drinking-and-driving incident in Nebraska last summer. LINCOLN, Neb. -- A judge handed New England Patriots cornerback Alfonzo Dennard another year of probation and 30 additional days in jail Thursday as a result of a drinking-and-driving incident in Nebraska last summer. Dennard last April was sentenced to two years of probation and 30 days in jail for assaulting a police officer outside a Lincoln bar in 2012. He admitted he violated his probation three months later when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving. Lancaster County District Court Judge Stephanie Stacy extended his probation from two to three years and his jail term from 30 to 60 days. He is to report to the county jail March 1. She also barred him from consuming or possessing alcohol and increased his mandatory community service from 200 to 300 hours, with half of the additional 100 hours to be performed in Nebraska. Stacy could have revoked Dennards probation and sent him to jail. "This is your last chance," Stacy told him. Dennard, who played college football at Nebraska, is scheduled to appear in county court on Friday for a hearing on the July drunken-driving case. Tim Wright Patriots Jersey. Dennard apologized for violating probation and letting his family and teammates down. He said probation and counselling will help him to "keep learning how to walk that straight line." Dennard declined to comment outside the courtroom. His attorney, Alan Stoler, said he was satisfied with the outcome. During the hearing, Stacy noted she had received letters from Massachusetts authorities praising Dennards positive attitude about community service. "Hes learned a tremendous amount from the process," Stoler said. "As the judge read from the letters, this wasnt something Alfonzo took lightly. Its affected him in a positive way, things that hes been able to do." Prosecutor Bruce Prenda requested that Dennards probation be revoked, but he said the state would be agreeable to a modified probation term if it included the no-alcohol provision. Stacy noted that Dennard had not come up positive in tests initiated in August for alcohol and other controlled substances. cheap jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '