CONI President Giovanni Malagò admits Serie A should be reduced to 16 teams, but “reform of the leagues is the mother of all battles.”
The Italian top flight had 16 sides in its heyday, was increased to 18 and then 20.
Meanwhile, Serie B had to start with 19 teams, reduced from the usual 22, because Bari, Avellino and Cesena went bankrupt.
CONI President Giovanni Malagò admits Serie A should be reduced to 16 teams, but “reform of the leagues is the mother of all battles.”
The Italian top flight had 16 sides in its heyday, was increased to 18 and then 20.
Meanwhile, Serie B had to start with 19 teams, reduced from the usual 22, because Bari, Avellino and Cesena went bankrupt.
“It seems to be that almost all football sporting directors in recent years have agreed reform of the leagues is the mother of all battles,” Italian Olympic Committee chief Malagò told reporters at an event.
“It’s not up to me to say whether we start from Serie A, Serie B or the minor leagues, but clearly the system cannot handle the number of teams that we got accustomed to. There are clubs that cannot sustain the costs of operating and it has a knock-on effect for the rest of the system.
“Richer nations than us overtook us in Europe and faced this issue a long time ago. I was Commissioner of the FIGC for a few months and we progressed well.
“We had to had to form a governance and round up the not simple problem of the television rights.”