The frontrunners for the election were Roma club president Franco Sensi and Parma club president Stefano Tanzi but neither reached the quorum minimum of 29 votes required to win.

A new vote will take place on February 1.

Sensi, who ended the third and final round of voting in first place with 22 votes, was nonetheless upbeat about the day's developments.

'The outlook is good and to suspend the meeting at the third vote was done out of respect to Tanzi. It wasn't a victory for the small nor for the big,' Sensi was quoted as saying by Italian news agency ANSA.

'I'm not the saviour of Italian soccer but these votes give me the opportunity to sit down at the negotiating table in a good position that can carry forward certain ideas to a positive point.

'Soccer must belong to everyone. We will have 15 days to reflect and the only thing I hope is that everyone thinks for the good of soccer because the problems can be overcome together.'

Calisto Tanzi, Parma's owner and father of Stefano, said: 'Today was the day for a discussion as it should have been and I believe that now is the time to sew everything up.'

There was criticism from Venezia club president Maurizio Zamparini, who admitted he had considered standing as well but said he felt frustrated by the voting system.

'I was thinking of being a candidate. It's inconceivable that there will be the need for an absolute majority when there are already 20-22 votes in favour of a candidate,' Zamparini said.

Representatives from all clubs in Serie A and B were present for the vote to elect a successor to Franco Carraro, who was elected president of the Italian Football Federation in December.