A long-running dispute over money has ended with the Italian Football League splitting by mutual consent, allowing Serie A and Serie B to pursue their own financial interests.
"This is a consensual separation that will be for the good of all," Football League president Adriano Galliani was quoted as saying in Saturday's La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The league has looked after the joint interests of Serie A and Serie B since 1946. But the two divisions have been at odds since 1999 when the government passed a law allowing clubs to negotiate their own television deals.
That led to big Serie A sides like Juventus, AC Milan and Inter Milan getting contracts worth almost 100 times more than several of their Serie B counterparts.
The league was also racked by increasingly bitter squabbles over the traditional "mutuality" payments, money handed down by Serie A to Serie B in an attempt to bridge the growing gulf in earnings.
Following the split, "mutuality" payments will be gradually phased out, though Serie A agreed to give Serie B a total of 95 million euros ($113.9 million) per season for the next three years.
From the 2008-09 campaign, the new league representing Serie B will receive 65 million euros per season for six years to split between its member sides.
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