In a landmark development announced on August 6, 2025, Serie A clubs and the Italian Footballers’ Association (AIC) have reached a five-year collective bargaining agreement that imposes an automatic 25 percent salary reduction on players whose teams are relegated to Serie B.
The decision, aimed at mitigating the financial impact of demotion on clubs, will apply to all new contracts signed after the close of the summer transfer window on September 2, 2025, while existing deals remain unaffected.
The new arrangement represents a significant shift in Italian football labour relations. According to Reuters, “Italian top-flight players will see their salaries slashed by 25 percent if their teams are relegated,” under the collective agreement that runs for five years.
The salary cut is designed as an automatic mechanism unless otherwise agreed in individual contracts. If a side secures immediate promotion back to Serie A, the players’ salaries revert to their original levels.
In addition, the agreement introduces a minimum salary scale tied to players’ age that must be honoured even after relegation, offering some protection to younger professionals.
This minimum structure aims to prevent wages from dropping below socially acceptable thresholds and addresses previous concerns over exploitative terms.
Lega Serie A President Ezio Simonelli hailed the agreement as a historic milestone: “a football system that is increasingly solid, equal and sustainable.”
The measure was welcomed by club executives, who stressed the urgent need for cost control in a league where relegation can trigger sharp revenue declines—from TV rights, matchday income, and sponsorships all falling sharply.
Historically, relegated clubs have been buoyed by parachute payments, sometimes reaching €10 million or more, but such sums often prove insufficient to offset contractual liabilities.
Under the new deal, cuts are automatic, consistent, and avoid protracted renegotiations in the wake of demotion. The agreement emerged after months of internal debate.
AIC officials had previously expressed strong opposition to wage reductions in earlier contexts, such as the pandemic. In 2020, the union dismissed a damning wage-cut proposal as “shameful and inadmissible,” with then-president Damiano Tommasi branding the behaviour of some clubs as “incomprehensible” amid crisis talks.
This new pact, however, arose under different circumstances: instead of a crisis-driven emergency, it represents a forward-looking, preventative framework.
As stated by the AIC leadership during negotiations, collective clarity on relegation clauses reduces uncertainty for both players and clubs alike and prevents ad hoc solutions that could undermine contractual stability.
Financial analysts have called the agreement a vital move for the financial health of Serie A, pointing to decades of overspending and structural imbalance in Italian football.
Reddit commentary from users referencing historical mismanagement emphasises how recurring debt and creative budget handling have led to crises at clubs such as Napoli, Parma, Lazio, and more in the 2000s.
Without systemic reform, relegation risk has often pushed clubs to the brink. The background to the agreement includes earlier regulatory and fiscal debates.
Notably, Italy’s termination of the so-called Growth Decree—a tax break for foreign players that helped Serie A compete for international talent—highlighted financial fragility in the league.
Clubs had relied on such fiscal incentives to contain wage bills while attracting stars. The decree’s expiry in early 2024 exacerbated budget pressures across the top flight.
Under the old system, relegation clauses were negotiated individually, leading to uneven results. The new standardised terms are designed to streamline negotiations and ensure fairness across the division.
Future contracts will include explicit provisions for salary reductions upon relegation unless superseded, and minimum age-based wages cannot be overridden even in Serie B.