Italian football will die unless fans start flooding back to the stadiums and Serie A regains its global status, Juventus president Andrea Agnelli predicted on Friday.

"The calcio is dying on its feet," he told a meeting of his club's shareholders in Turin.

According to Agnelli, Serie A "in 10 years will generate the same revenue as the Bundesliga (in Germany), barely half the Liga (Spain), and a third of the Premier League (England).

"We were already crawling along, now we're going ever slower. But no one sees the sickness."

Italy have slipped to fourth in UEFA's rankings, threatened by fifth-placed Portugal.

And since Inter Milan's Champions League success in 2010 Juventus have been the only Italian club to make it as far as the semi-finals in Europe, and that was in the second-tier Europa League.

To stop the rot, Agnelli says, Serie A must achieve two aims.

"At home, fans have to start filling the stadiums again, and in Europe we have to turn it (Italian football) into a global market," he told shareholders.

Agnelli was echoing comments made by Inter owner Erick Thohir.

"Italy won't be second, third or fourth (in UEFA's rankings), we'll be ninth and we'll lose ground to countries like Portugal and the Netherlands," he forecast last week.

As for Juventus, Agnelli said that even if they could give themselves a pat on the back for balancing the books after four years in the red, "Juve's main rivals - Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich or Manchester United, have pulled well clear of us".