San Marino national team goes on strike two weeks before Euro qualifier
The San Marino national team has gone on strike after a dispute with the country's Football Association.
San Marino is scheduled to play Slovenia in qualifying for the 2016 European Championships on March 27, but that match could be jeopardy due to the strike, according to RTV San Marino Sport.
Soccer players in the European microstate recently formed a union, called L’AssociazioneSammarineseCalciatori (ASC). The strike was called because of a lack of dialogue between the union and the country's soccer leadership, the ASC said on Facebook.
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San Marino was ranked 181st in the world in the most recent FIFA rankings, while Slovenia is ranked 48th.
In 124 UEFA-sanctioned matches, San Marino is 1-119-4, with the lone win coming against Liechtenstein in a friendly at Stadio Olimpico in San Marino on April 28, 2004.
With a population of less than 32,000, San Marino is the second-smallest member of UEFA. Its first game came in 1990, a 4-0 loss in Euro qualifying to Switzerland.
The country is surrounded by Italy and has an area of less than 24 square miles.
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