Goodbye Sergio Campana, former president of the AIC: with Rivera and Mazzola he brought a turning point to football

Sergio Campana, the longtime president of the Italian Footballers' Association (Assocalciatori), has died at the age of 91. A former footballer, he led the players' union for 43 years, from 1968 to 2011. Campana died in his hometown of Bassano del Grappa, in a nursing home where he had been hospitalized for several weeks due to deteriorating health.

Centre forward, lawyer, he founded the AIC with Mazzola and Rivera

Campana was born on August 1, 1934, and had played as a center forward in Serie A with Lanerossi Vicenza and Bologna. He graduated in law and was admitted to the bar in 1967. That same year, he retired from competitive football. The following year, his career changed: with Gianni Rivera and Sandro Mazzola, he founded the AIC.

The first historic footballers' strike

In 1974, the first players' strike took place, with the players starting play only 10 minutes after the scheduled time in defense of Scala, a player who had refused a transfer from Bologna to Avellino and was about to be punished by the Irpinia club for this.