FIGC director general Michele Uva insists Serie A clubs must share the blame for Italian football's decline.
Juventus president Andrea Agnelli says Italy's football culture is holding them back.
"There are three parties involved in the system - the Federation, the Leagues and the clubs," Uva told Radio RAI.
"Our institutional duty is to deal with football at every level, and refereeing for the 700,000 games a year which are played under the jurisdiction of the Federation.
"It's not the Federation's fault if clubs like Barcelona and Real Madrid have tripled their revenues in 10 years, nor is it the fault of the Federation that in Italy the ratio of wages to turnover is between 75 per cent and 90 per cent while in Germany it's less than 50 per cent.
"The Federation deals with all of football, then the clubs decide independently on stadiums and tickets."
