Torino president Urbano Cairo has accused Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma of wanting a “mini Super League” after the quartet voted to reduce the number of clubs in Serie A from 20 to 18.

A vote was held on Monday among the 20 Serie A clubs on whether to reduce the number of clubs in the top-flight but the motion was defeated as 16 member clubs voted to maintain a 20-team league.

Serie A previously consisted of 18 teams until its expansion in the 2004-05 season — a format that has been maintained since.

England’s Premier League and La Liga in Spain both consist of 20 clubs, but Ligue 1 in France and Germany’s Bundesliga are both comprised of 18 teams.

Juventus, Roma, Milan and Inter voted for a reduction of clubs on Monday, arguing that it would make the division more competitive and that a reduced fixture schedule would assist clubs competing in Europe.

“What they wanted to do was a mini Super League,” Torino president Cairo said, via Italian news agency ANSA.

“Today’s meeting confirmed that a vast majority of clubs want to keep 20 teams as the other leading European divisions, including the Spanish and English leagues, also have 20.

“This shows that 20-teams is the format that works.”

Milan president Paolo Scaroni had told Rai Radio 1 before Monday’s vote that the meeting had been an attempt to redress Serie A’s influence within the Italian football federation (FIGC), which he said should be “very strong” but instead is “weak”.

Speaking of his support of reducing the number of clubs in the Italian top division, Scaroni added: “The players play in European competition, in national team matches, in the Coppa Italia and in the league.

“All this leads to a load of matches that becomes unbearable and which is the cause of many injuries.”

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