Official: Serie B with 19 clubs

By Football Italia staff

The fixture list for the 2018-19 Serie B season will be drawn up on Monday for 19 clubs after controversy and delays.

The Lega Serie B announced the calendar will be presented in Milan on Monday evening and will have 19 clubs involved rather than the usual 22.

Their statement also noted that the Lega Serie B “reserves the right to take action against all those who have or will behave in illegal, illegitimate and prejudicial actions towards the Lega or any of the associated clubs.”

However, it remains to be seen if the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) will back the move.

The summer has been absolutely chaotic in Serie B, as Bari, Cesena and Avellino all went bankrupt and were unable to register for the new season.

The FIGC had tried to resist the idea of cutting the division down from 22 clubs to 20, but yesterday there was a turning point with 19 letters signed by Serie B clubs.

La Gazzetta dello Sport claim that the architect behind this was Lazio and Salernitana patron Claudio Lotito.

It might not be over, because Catania, Novara, Siena, Ternana, Pro Vercelli and Virtus Entella all put in formal requests to be bumped back up to Serie B in place of the bankrupt clubs.

They have already pledged legal action to stop the Serie B season kicking off.

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