(Reuters) -Serie A CEO Luigi De Siervo has pointed to illegal streaming and the resulting lack of TV revenue as a factor behind Italy's struggles to nurture homegrown talent as the Azzurri strive to return to the World Cup for the first time since 2014.
Once a permanent fixture at the World Cup, four-times world champions Italy find themselves in dire straits having missed out on the last two editions and at risk of missing out on a third after losing their first qualifier against Norway.
Italian authorities recently intensified efforts to counter online piracy, which is costing billions of euros to broadcasters and sports leagues globally as they try to protect the value of their broadcast rights.
TV rights make up the bulk of revenue for Serie A teams and De Siervo said "there is still a mountain to climb" after they lost revenue to the tune of 300 million euros ($345.15 million) last year.
"Many question why our national team is in this situation and why there is a lack of talent, one reason being the losses due to piracy," De Siervo said at an event on the fight against piracy.
"All the money that is lost every year is not invested in the youth teams and in the growth of our young players, a major issue that has led our national team to face many difficulties.
"In addition to this, the age-old facilities do not allow the clubs and the system to obtain high revenues. This has to be changed and this law goes in the right direction."
De Siervo said if they continue to lose revenue, Italy and Serie A could tumble down UEFA's coefficient rankings.
"We are already far behind the Premier League and the Spanish LaLiga," he added.
"If we continue like this, we will finish behind the Germans and we will end up being at the bottom of the table (of Europe's top five leagues) together with the French."
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(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge)
