Farewell to the 18 teams: from September 3 groups of 14 teams, with 6 more places The staff of the Second can increase: thus the Third Category would disappear
/ TREVISO
In all likelihood, the 2021/2022 championships of Excellence, Promotion and First category will no longer have groups of 18 teams. The reason is simple: in the Covid era, with postponements lurking, there is a need for some stops for recovery. Therefore, the 18 groups were rejected, which had been chosen by the companies (with Bulgarian percentages) through a survey by the Veneto Regional Committee last summer, when the virus seemed to have almost disappeared. For the structure of the new staff, the Crv has set up a working commission. According to the first rumors, next season could have a greater number of groups, however, formed by fewer formations. A hypothesis that is making its way are three groups of 14 teams in Excellence, 5 or 6 groups of 14 in Promotion and 10 or 12 groups of 14 in First.
If so, the staff of Excellence would go from the current 36 clubs to 42. So 6 more places. Net of the Venetians who will be relegated from the D, and those who will be promoted by the top regional division in June, repechage from the Promotion would be needed. And Treviso is among the teams hoping for it. However, the new repechage criteria are not known since – given the few games played in September and October – it will not be possible to take into account the latest rankings. If, on the other hand, you bet on three groups of 12, the staff would remain stationary at 36 teams, without repechage. Almost impossible to return to two groups of 16 already now: it would only happen in the event of non-registration of some companies. With three groups of Excellence it would probably take a triangular at the end of the season to define the two promoted to D, with the loser who could perhaps access the national play-offs.
If also the staff of the second were enlarged with more groups of 14, the abolition of the third category, already suffering, should not be excluded. The provincial championship, the last step of the football pyramid, is in fact made up of a few clubs per group, sometimes belonging to different provinces in order to make up the numbers. The paradox is that in the Third the journeys are longer than those in the Second, with an increase in costs. Further repechage to fill the new staff with Second would impoverish the Third to the point of canceling it, and the main consequence would then be the absence of relegations from the Second. For now, it is good to reiterate it, these are hypotheses being examined by the Crv.
In the first teams, the years of over-quotas will probably remain the same as this season. For the release of friendlies and tournaments, which mainly affect the youth categories, the new protocol of the FIGC is expected shortly. For now, only collective training is allowed, without the use of changing rooms. –