Italian federation boss wants Serie A reduced to 18 clubs

Struggling to compete with the English Premier League and the Spanish Liga, Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio wants to reduce Serie A from 20 to 18 clubs (Luca Bruno/AP)

ROME — Struggling to compete with the English Premier League and the Spanish Liga, Italian football federation president Carlo Tavecchio wants to reduce Serie A from 20 to 18 clubs.

Tavecchio tells Rai state radio that a reduction would increase the overall skill level of the league and attract a bigger fan base with more competitive matches.

Tavecchio also wants to reduce the number of teams in Serie B and the third division. He plans to discuss a three- or a four-year plan with the leagues this week.

He says, "I know there are economic problems and we can’t do it in a year."

Serie A president Maurizio Beretta has indicated he is open to discussing the idea.

Serie A had 18 clubs from 1988-2004 before the current 20-team format was introduced.

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.