Juventus, Inter, Milan and Roma accused of wanting 'Mini Super League' as Serie A votes to remain with 20 teams

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ByLorenzo Bettoni

Feb 12, 2024 15:31

epa10388961 Torino's chairman Urbano Cairo before the Italian Serie A soccer match between Torino FC and Hellas Verona FC at the Olimpico Grande Torino stadium in Turin, Italy, 04 January 2023. EPA-EFE/Alessandro Di Marco

All Serie A clubs, except Juventus, Inter, Milan and Roma, have voted against reducing the league to 18 teams, prompting Torino President Urbano Cairo to say top sides wanted to create a ‘Mini Super League.’

The majority of Serie A clubs voted to remain with 20 teams during a meeting in Milan on Monday.

Only Juventus, Inter, Milan and Roma were in favour of reducing the number of teams in Italy’s top flight.

“What they wanted to do was a Mini Super League,” Torino President Cairo said after the meeting, as quoted by ANSA.

“Today’s meeting confirmed that a vast majority of clubs want to keep 20 teams even because the other leading European leagues, including the Spanish and English one also have 20.”

Cairo said that the Lega Serie A meeting was “friendly” and insisted that a 20-team format “works well.”

According to ANSA, Inter, Juventus and Milan representatives had met FIGC President Gabriele Gravina last week pushing for a change of format that would see 18 clubs involved in Serie A rather than 20.

“That meeting was not seen well by other clubs,” noted Cairo. “The timing was entirely wrong. We are not divided, but they had a wrong attitude and I think they lacked mutual respect.”

Serie A switched from 18 to 20 clubs for the first time in the 2004-05 campaign.

Milan President Paolo Scaroni insisted that Serie A should have returned to 18 clubs to lower the number of games especially for teams involved in European competitions.