The chief executive of Italian soccer's top-tier Serie A, Luigi de Siervo, has been re-elected to serve his third term at the helm of the 20-team league.

De Siervo’s re-election came late last week following a vote amongst the 20 Serie A club chairs in Milan - 17 voted in favor of a third term, with only three blank ballots.

Only 11 votes had been needed to secure the re-election.

The league's CEO was first elected as such in December 2018, before being re-elected for his second term in 2021.

Before 2018, he served as chief executive of the Infront Italy division of the heavyweight sports marketing agency.

The previous league CEO, Marco Brunelli, had only been in the job on an interim basis during the run-up to the 2018 election.

Since 2021, de Siervo has come under criticism in some quarters over issues such as the league's recent media rights sales process (which has seen a markedly different format used to the last tender), and also the hosting of the annual Supercoppa Italiana four-team tournament (expanded under de Siervo’s watch) in Saudi Arabia.

In March 2023, a deal was struck between Serie A and authorities in Saudi to ensure that the country would stage the tournament in 2024, 2025, 2028, and 2029.

Signing a long-term deal like this to continue staging the tournament outside Italy has provoked criticism from various quarters, including media and fan groups.

This re-election comes soon after the Italian soccer league's clubs elected a new president.

In late December, the league voted in Ezio Simonelli as its new president, replacing Lorenzo Casini.