Serie A: League wants Coppa Italia in English, rejects U23 cards

At the Allianz Stadium in Turin, during the Social Football Summit, the Serie A League met today to discuss the future of the Coppa Italia, with a transformation planned from 2027 that would include more Serie C teams and raise the issue of wild cards for U23s.

The clubs are called to discuss the tender for the allocation of television rights for the 2027‑2030 triennium, upon the expiry of the current agreement with Mediaset.

Expansion proposals

The League is evaluating two alternatives for broadcasters: maintaining the current structure of the Coppa Italia or adopting a broader model, similar to the FA Cup but with substantial differences.

The most innovative proposal envisages increasing the participating teams from 44 to 72, with matches rising from 45 to 73, including two‑legged semi‑finals.

An expansion would mainly benefit Serie C, which would go from the current four representatives to a full thirty‑two, with an initial round of thirty‑two direct‑elimination matches.

The privilege reserved for the top eight Serie A finishers would remain unchanged, with entry to the tournament only from the round of 16.

The final decision will depend on the responses of the television market, as more matches offer greater opportunities to showcase the product, but require a more complex scheduling management.

The enlargement enjoys the support of Lega Pro, which has long been asking for more space in the national cup, and the possibility of granting home advantage to the lower‑division team is being considered, as is done in England, an option welcomed by Serie C but not yet defined in the tender.

The crucial point remains the definition of the access criteria, currently not detailed in the tender; Matteo Marani’s Lega Pro opposes the automatic inclusion of the four second‑placed teams, while Serie C is in favour of the expansion but rejects wild cards for U23 squads, arguing that qualification must be earned on the field, without guaranteed spots, as in the case of Milan Futuro, which does not even compete in Serie C.

The issue will not be resolved in today’s meeting, as the tender will not go into detail on the admission criteria.