It consists of nine national and regional tournaments, the first three being professional, while the remaining six are amateur, set up by the Italian Football Federation.
In theory, it is possible for a lowly local amateur club to rise to the pinnacle of the Italian game and win the Scudetto.
In the summer of 1921, a second association was briefly created in competition with the FIGC: the Confederazione Calcistica Italiana (CCI), emerged from an argument between major and minor clubs over the structure of the national leagues.
After World War II the league briefly returned to a regional structure with a north–south divide and a play-off for a single year before Serie A was restored.
However, it is Juventus, Milan and Internazionale that have dominated the league since World War II, having won the title in 57 of the 74 seasons.
The third tier is Serie C. It is run by the Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico; it has three divisions of 20 clubs each, which are generally split on the basis of location.
At the fourth tier is Serie D, a league of nine parallel divisions (in which the clubs are divided by geographical location) that is organised by the Dipartimento Interregionale of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti.
From 2005—2006 season, if two or more teams end the league with the same number of points, the final place is given from following criteria (that count for every division): The women's system is divided into five levels.