Italy coach Antonio Conte has called off a planned get-together with his squad later this month due to reservations expressed by several Serie A clubs.
In the wake of a 1-0 Euro 2016 qualifying win over Albania back in October, Conte complained that he was not being given enough support in his role as Azzurri coach by the clubs.
The former Juventus boss said frequent get-togethers with the players was necessary if Italy were to bounce back strongly from their disappointing showing at last summer's World Cup, pencilling in a three-day training camp from Feb. 9-11.
Since those dates are not officially recognised by FIFA as ones on which clubs must release their players, Conte had met with some reluctance on the part of the Serie A clubs to allow their players to leave and miss out on three days of training with them.
Juventus had made clear from the very beginning their refusal to release players for Conte, who has now met even further resistance and decided to call the whole thing off.
"Given the answers we've received, we have decided not to proceed with this training camp," Conte said on the official website of the Italian Football Association (FIGC).
"It risked not being useful either to the national team or to the clubs. But I do hope that from now on, we can all find solutions together which cannot be postponed to ensure the national team becomes a focal point of the football system."
FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio added: "The decision not to proceed is a signal of respect for all those interested. But I would like to remind the Serie A clubs that looking after and strengthening the Squadra Azzurra, which are the priorities of the association, can only be achieved by finding additional gaps to work in compared to the international football calendar and by setting up the format of fixtures and national competitions which are more functional to the system.
"From now on, we expect coherent answers on these points."
The start of the 2015-16 Serie A season could be brought forward to earlier in August as part of these measures with the season then due to end earlier to give Conte more time to prepare his side for Euro 2016, should Italy qualify.