The Direttorio Divisioni Superiori (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for ''Directory of Higher Divisions'') was the ruling body of the major Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

championships during the fascist era.''Treccani'' (Italian)
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History

The Directory was established through the

CONI The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy ...

by the fascists. Italy was turning into a dictatorship, and the government imposed the new system to the sport too. In 1926 the FIGC had huge problems of governance, and the authorities profited by the situation to disband the Leagues replacing them with appointed committees. The Directory organized the first football at national level, abolishing the division between North and South, and it legalized the professional football. A new championship was created, the

Divisione Nazionale Divisione Nazionale ''(National Division)'' was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1926 to 1929. History The competition was the evolution of former Prima Divisione ''(First Division)'' which had two main proble ...

, alongside the diminished

Prima Divisione Prima Divisione (''First Division'') was the name of the first level of the Italian Football Championship from 1921 to 1926. The competition was initially founded in opposition to the FIGC by the richest clubs of Northern Italy, which disagreed the ...

. The first one was divided between

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

and

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

in 1929, while the second one was substituted by the

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega P ...

in 1935.

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

interrupted the championships in 1943. At the fall of fascism in 1945, the Directory was automatically abolished. The

Lega Calcio The Lega Nazionale Professionisti (Italian for National Professionals League), commonly known as Lega Calcio (Football League), was the governing body that ran the two highest football divisions in Italy, namely Serie A and Serie B, from 1946 to ...

was created in its place in 1946.

DDS Chairmen

*1926-1927 Ulisse Baruffini *1927-1934 Ottorino Barassi *1934-1936 Rodolfo Vecchini *1936-1940 Guido Cavalli *1940-1943 Federico Sani

References

{{Football in Italy Serie A Serie B Serie C 1926 establishments in Italy Football governing bodies in Italy 1945 disestablishments in Italy

History

DDS Chairmen

See also

References