How the algorithm that would decide the Serie A championship works

The Serie A football championship is ready to start again, the teams are already in the finishing phase and are preparing to return to the pitch, albeit without an audience. But also the Federal Council has recently been busy thinking about the various solutions to be adopted when the matches should undergo a further stop: if, after the resumption, you had to opt for a definitive standstill due to a relapse of the Coronavirus, an algorithm will be used to decide the teams qualified for the European competitions and the relegations, but not to assign the scudetto which therefore would remain without a master after eight years of Juventus domination.

La Federazione ha stabilito che, nel caso di impossibilità a proseguire il campionato, la classifica verrà cristallizzata e verrà applicata una formula per determinare i punti finali:

Final ranking points = PT + (MPc x NPc) + (MPt x NPt)

Where PT are the total points in the standings until the time of suspension, MPc represents the average points at home until the stop that will be multiplied by NPc, that is the remaining games to be played at home. To this must be added the result of a new multiplication, given by the average points away (MPt) and the remaining matches away from home (NPt).

In the event that, once the different final positions have been assigned using the scores, parity should be recorded, the final order in the ranking would take place by compiling a ranking that takes into account the points in the direct matches (only if all the teams involved there have disputed); for equal points, the difference between the goals scored and suffered in the same matches will be taken into account; to follow, the difference between goals scored and suffered in direct matches between the teams concerned (only if all the teams involved have played them), then the difference between the average per game of the goals scored and the average per game of the goals conceded in the matches played up to permanent suspension and the highest number of goals scored on average per game in the matches played until the final suspension of the championship. Finally, in the event of - unlikely and further - tie, the lowest number of goals conceded per game per game against the final suspension of the championship will be calculated.

If today, for example, the championship were forced to stop, applying the above formula, the final classification would be the following:

These are only assumptions, those concerning the Serie A; while as regards the serie C, the algorithm has already been used to decide the promotions of the three groups: in fact, the next Serie B championship will be attended by three ''new'' teams, two of which are used to treading the fields of the top flight, it is Monza but above all Vicenza and Reggina.