De Laurentiis calls for Serie A to be reduced to 16 teams after Italy's World Cup failure

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis says Serie A should be cut to 16 teams to allow more time for Italy’s national team training, while also insisting on compensation and ‘full insurance’ protection for players called up to international duty.

Read Football Italia Ad-Free and get access to Exclusive News – Free Trial – Click Here Italy are once again licking their wounds after failing for the third time in a row to qualify for the World Cup. The Azzurri lost on penalties to Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday night in the play-off Final.

Napoli President De Laurentiis spoke about the state of Italian football in an interview with Radio CRC just a few hours after the Azzurri’s loss.

“My sentiment has been clear for ten years. It just makes me smile,” he said via TMW.

CAGLIARI, ITALY – MARCH 20: Scott Francis Mctominay of Napoli celebrates his goal 0-1 with the team-mates during the Serie A match between Cagliari Calcio and SSC Napoli at Stadio Sant’Elia on March 20, 2026 in Cagliari, Italy. (Photo by Enrico Locci/Getty Images) “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 Supercups 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?

“For years, I’ve argued that everything in Italian football is stagnant and nothing changes, because when nothing changes, everyone muddles along. I’m not someone who likes to muddle along,” ADL continued.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis arrives for the screening of the film “Freaks Out” presented in competition on September 8, 2021 during the 78th Venice Film Festival at Venice Lido. (Photo by Marco BERTORELLO / AFP) (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images) “Sixteen teams, fewer matches, more time to train the national team.”

The Napoli owner, however, also suggested that national federations should pay clubs for the use of their players.

“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,” he added.

FIGC President Gabriele Gravina has so far refused to resign, but is facing internal pressure on several fronts, and ex-CONI President Giovanni Malagò has emerged as a possible replacement.

Malagò, 67, surely has the backing of De Laurentiis.

“Someone like Malagò, who is used to always doing his best because he’s a great professional and has always shown it, is someone who can contribute rather than take, and he also has a certain humanity,” concluded the Napoli President.

“If we were to restart with him tomorrow morning, I believe we would be strong again within a couple of years.”