Lega Serie A President Lorenzo Casini warns they want ‘autonomy’ from the FIGC, hoping to follow a Premier League model of self-management.
The Lega is the union of 20 clubs currently in the top flight and this statement comes just days after FIGC President Gabriele Gravina insisted reforms had to be pushed through to ensure football in Italy can be sustainable.
Today there was a rare show of unity when all 20 clubs voted in favour of the new sponsorship deal, so from next year it will be known as the Serie A Enilive rather than Serie A TIM, ending 25 years of working with the telephone giants.
“We discussed various different topics, including the federal reforms,” confirmed Casini in a press conference.
“Some things have already been completed, others must be analysed, but what emerged from the debate was that the federal system and where Serie A is located within that are just not adequate.
“We need greater autonomy and the ability to make our own choices, so the assembly decided to start the process of evaluating a mechanism of autonomy that is similar to the English Premier League model.
“In the next assembly, we will push forward the study of that process.”
It comes after the FIGC threatened significant reforms, including the reduction of Serie A from 20 teams to 18, and removal of the Lega Serie A’s veto power.
Rather than bring them back into line, it seems to have sparked a revolution within the Lega Serie A.
“Technically speaking, the Premier League is not outside of the English Football Federation, it is still within a federal system,” noted Casini.
“What the Premier League has is a different organisational model, linked with economic weight. What emerged is that the current system does not give Serie A the recognition and weight it deserves.”
Casini was asked to further explain how this would change the world of football in Italy.
“The rules of the game are not to be touched, so that’s out of the question. After that, we can experiment, as Serie A has done in the past.
“There are other things that can be decided upon, like the limitations on squad lists, the rules on non-EU players, youth academies. As of now, all that is decided by the FIGC, whereas in future Serie A could be more autonomous in those matters.”
It would infuriate the Players’ Association (AIC), who pushed for the introduction of those limits to safeguard home-grown talents from an influx of cheaper foreign players.
The English Premier League was founded in 1992, breaking away from the English Football League and massively boosting revenue to the individual clubs involved.
#Casini: "#SerieA fuori dalla #FIGC? Valutiamo di seguire il modello della #PremierLeague. Vogliamo autonomia"https://t.co/Pj6f1PtigU
— Gianluca Di Marzio (@DiMarzio) February 5, 2024