Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has called for a radical restructuring of Italian football. This comes following the Azzurri’s catastrophic failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, and fans have been reacting.
According to him, the Serie A is currently destroying players by making them play too many league matches, and that needs to change.
Laurentiis added that the present 20-team format is unsustainable, especially when coupled with lucrative but draining mid-season trips abroad for domestic silverware.
His words, “My sentiment has been clear for ten years. It just makes me smile. We’ve always said that too many games have been played, and this destroys our players.
Today, we still want to have 20 teams [in Serie A], but if we return to 16 teams and abolish the Supercup played in Saudi Arabia, we’d rest our players, who are a heritage we pay for, and we’d have time to let the national team train.
We should start thinking: is the tactical approach that Italian football prides itself on really conducive to achieving against other nations? Sixteen teams, fewer matches, more time to train the national team.
Compensating clubs for players called up to the national team and full insurance coverage in case of injury – in my view, that’s the restart we need.”
WOW.
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