- Italy’s big three have joined the Italian Federation to propose an 18-team plan
- Serie A itself and most of its other 17 clubs will resist his plans
- The Italian top flight had 18 teams until it was expanded for the 2004-05 season.
Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan have reportedly proposed reducing the number of Serie A clubs from 20 to 18.
The league’s three most historically successful clubs have backed a plan initially proposed by Italian federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina.
However, most other Serie A clubs are against the proposal.
Sky Sport Italy reported that Inter CEO Beppe Marotta, plus Juventus CEO Maurizio Scanavino and director Francesco Calvo, met with Gravina at the federation headquarters to discuss the matter.
The president of Milan, Paolo Scaroni, participated in the meeting via videoconference.
Inter Milan and AC Milan back proposal to reduce Serie A from 20 clubs to just 18
Juventus also backs the plan, which the big three say would increase the quality of the league.
Discussions over reducing the size of Italy’s top division come ahead of an extraordinary FIGC assembly on March 11, when a restructuring will be debated.
Serie A was expanded from 18 to 20 clubs ahead of the 2004-05 campaign and the big three argue that reducing it again would ease the busy fixture list and increase the quality of football on offer.
The German Bundesliga and French Ligue 1 have 18 clubs, while the English Premier League and Spanish LaLiga have 20.
Other Serie A clubs and the league itself will resist the proposals of the big three and the FIGC.
Currently, Inter lead the standings, four points ahead of Juventus, and Milan, four points further back, in third place. There is then a difference of 10 points with respect to Atalanta, which occupies fourth position.
Before Napoli’s Scudetto triumph last season, you had to go back to 2001 to see the last time Juventus, Inter or Milan did not win the title.
Juventus have 36 championship wins in total, while Inter and Milan have 19 each.
Napoli’s Scudetto victory last season was a rare interlude in the dominance of Italy’s big three.