The CCI Italian Football Championship was formed during the summer of 1921, as a result of a dispute between the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio and its strongest teams.
The teams asked for a reduction of the number of participants in the First Category. Vittorio Pozzo, the Italian footballcoach, developed a plan to accommodate the teams' requests but, after a vote, the plan did not pass: the smaller clubs feared that they would disappear if such a reduction was introduced.
This led to the creation of a new Italian football federation, the CCI (Italian Football Confederation, in Italian Confederazione Calcistica Italiana), that organized a championship concurrent with the FIGC championship.
This separation only lasted one season and the following summer, FIGC accepted the proposal to reduce the number of participants and subsequently recognized the CCI championship as an official scudetto, alongside their own 1921–22 Prima Categoria (FIGC) that ran concurrently.
Group winners went to the final. Under original regulations, bottom clubs went to a salvation play-off against the two best clubs of the Second Division.
Internazionale received a walkover as their opponents Sport Club Nazionale Lombardia went bankrupt and disbanded.
Barrage play-offs
The CCI was very rich but it suffered the lack of international recognition by the FIFA, so an agreement with the FIGC was found. On July 9 and 16, Inter and Derthona and the other four bottom clubs of the Northern League were challenged by six FIGC’s clubs.
Venezia was the sole CCI club to be relegated to the 1922–23 Seconda Divisione following the defeat by FIGC’s Rivarolese. Spezia was re-elected when CCI’s Livorno bought and merged with its FIGC's counterpart Pro Livorno, freeing a slot.
^The 1st leg, in Piacenza, suffered the referee's absence so the first match became 'friendly'. Livorno won 4-2.
On July 16 the match was repeated, again in Piacenza, and Livorno won 4-1. Anyway, Piacenza retired before playing the second leg.
