FIGC announce B Team rules

By Football Italia staff

The FIGC has formally announced the introduction of B Teams in Lega Pro from the 2018-19 season, but there are specific limitations.

There had been complaints from the Lega Serie B and Lega Pro officials that the move was being rushed, but it was confirmed this afternoon with a statement from the Federation.

These B Teams of bigger clubs can be promoted or relegated, as long as they don’t end up in the same division as their parent side.

Next season, they will be introduced only in place of clubs that aren’t able to register for the Lega Pro campaign due to financial difficulties.

“This is a reform that Italian football felt the need to enact in order to close the gap with other European movements,” said FIGC vice-Commissioner Alessandro Costacurta.

“It will allow many young players to mature and increase the quality of our leagues and international teams, starting from the Under-21s.”

If there is a vacancy in the 2018-19 Lega Pro/Serie C tournament, then the Serie A club B Team will be given first pick at the empty spot, then after that a club recently relegated from Serie C and after that a side that was in the Interregionale division.

The criteria for who gets to qualify for these places will be announced later.

It’s confirmed that if a B Team is promoted to the same league as their parent club, they’ll have to play in the division below.

Crucially, the B Teams must have 23 players, 19 of which were born after January 1 1996.

At least 16 of the players must be registered with a club affiliated with the FIGC for at least seven sporting seasons, which means limiting the number of imports.

Players can move between parent and B Team clubs, but if they have at least five appearances for the first team, they won’t be allowed back into the B Team.

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