Official name: the Coppa Italia or the TIM Cup, after the title sponsor name, the Telecom Italia Mobile company.
Organizer: Serie A, under the patronage of the Italian Football Federation.
Number of participants: 78.
Format of the tournament
The current tournament format was formed in the season 2011/12, before that it had undergone significant changes. At present, 78 teams take part in the Coppa Italia. These are 20 Serie A and 22 Serie B clubs, 27 Serie С teams, as well as 9 amateur Serie D clubs.
The first phase consists of four rounds. In the first (qualifying) round Serie С and Serie D clubs meet (36 participants all in all). The Series B teams also join the Cup race during the second round. The Series A teams, occupying last 12 places in the national championship standings and not simultaneously participating in European competitions, enter the 3rd round of the tournament. The fourth round does not imply new participants, 16 winners of the previous stage play in it.
In the second phase, eight winners are joined by another eight best Serie A teams, defined with regard to the preceding season scores. Then, from the quarter-final to the finals, teams keep to the knockout scheme.
The first phase rounds and the Final 16 and the quarter-final stages presuppose only one match arranging. The seeded teams round (last 16) is also played on one field. Semifinals suggest two matches: each team plays at home and away. The final consists of one match.
Meaning of the trophy
The winner of the the Coppa Italia receives a ticket to the group stage of the next season Europa League. If the winner became a participant of the Champions League, the next team gets an opportunity to compete in the Europa League. If the second finalist does not exercise this right, too, the team following the last Champions League competitor in the Serie A standings can take part in the Europa League.
The Coppa Italia winner wears a cockade (La Coccarda) – a round mark performed in colours of the Italian tricolour – on its uniform all next season long. The cockade is a Cup equivalent of scudetto – a rectangular badge on the uniform of the current champion of the country.
Fast facts
Cup tournaments are not very popular in Italy. For example, if the national championship match will gather 50 thousand spectators, the match of the same teams, meeting at the Coppa Italia, will be visited by about 30 thousand fans. This doesn’t refer to final matches of the tournament. Such a situation may be probably explained by the fact that top-clubs often prefer to field a reserve squad in Cup games.
From the 2007/08 season, it was decided to arrange the final at the Stadio Olimpico in presence of the President of Italy, who awards winners upon completion of the match. In the absence of the president, the Senate of the Italian Republic head may assume his role.
