Structure
The first tier of Italian football is Serie A, which is governed by the Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A and is made up of 20 teams. Next is the 22-team Serie B, which is organised by the Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie B. Both of these leagues cover the whole of Italy.
In the third and fourth tier, there are parallel divisions; the Prima Divisione and the Seconda Divisione (both run by Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico) each have two divisions, which are generally split on the basis of location. The Prima Divisione divisions have 17-16 clubs and the Seconda Divisione leagues have 18 clubs each.
At the fifth tier is Serie D, a league of nine parallel divisions (in which the clubs are divided by geographical location) that is organised by the Dipartimento Interregionale of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti. Beneath these are five further levels; four of them, Eccellenza, Promozione, Prima Categoria and Seconda Categoria, are organised by regional committees of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti; and the last one, Terza Categoria, by provincial committees.
All Serie A, Serie B and Lega Pro clubs are professional. Since 2011–12, the fourth tier was reduced from 3 divisions to 2 because of the international economic crisis.
Read more about this topic: Association Football League System In Italy
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