Serie A title and relegation play-offs rejigged: Italian FA
The FIGC confirmed that should two teams finish on the same points at the top of the table the Scudetto would be decided in a one-match play-off.
Published : Jul 07, 2023 19:37 IST , Milan - 2 MINS READ
Napoli players celebrate lifting the Serie A title in 2022-23 season.
Italy’s football federation approved on Friday changes to Serie A’s league title and relegation play-offs which were introduced last season.
In a statement, the FIGC confirmed that should two teams finish on the same points at the top of the table the Scudetto would be decided in a one-match play-off.
However, the rules now state that instead of the deciding match being played at a neutral venue it would be hosted by whichever team finishes in first place.
In Serie A whoever has the best head-to-head record between teams on the same points takes the higher position, after which come goal difference and goals scored if the teams still cannot be separated.
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The showdown could be switched to whichever stadium hosts the Italian Cup final -- in recent years Rome’s Stadio Olimpico -- if the Italian authorities decide it necessary on the basis of public order.
The relegation play-off, disputed by the teams which finish either side of the drop zone in 17th and 18th, will be a two-legged affair with the team higher in the table playing the second leg at home.
Last season Spezia was relegated by Verona in a one-off match after ending the regular season just outside the bottom three.
The FIGC also said tiny Lecco would play in Serie B for the first time in half a century after deciding their bureaucratic troubles should not stop the club for registering in the second tier.
Lecco, based on the eastern leg of Lake Como, were promoted last month but don’t have a stadium which meets Serie B’s regulations so had to find an alternative site.
It had two days to submit documentation for Serie B after beating Foggia in the play-off final and missed the deadline.
But it was given a reprieve by the FIGC after demonstrating that it had approval to use Padova’s stadium some 200 kilometres away in Italy’s north-east.