Italy’s football chief resigns after World Cup disaster

The head of Italy’s football federation resigned on Thursday, falling on his sword after the men’s national team failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

Gabriele Gravina revealed he would step down as the country’s top football official following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome on Thursday.

Italy fell at the play-offs again on Tuesday, this time after a penalty shoot-out against Bosnia and Herzegovina and will miss this summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The shock waves of the latest humiliation for one of the world’s most important football nations forced Gravina, 72, to go back on his initial plans to wait until a FIGC board meeting next week to announce a decision on his future.

The FIGC said in a statement a vote for a new president will be held on June 22, with Giovanni Malago, the former long-time head of the Italian Olympic Committee, who was president of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics organisation committee, among the names in the hat.

Gravina’s resignation also means Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso could resign, as it was Gravina who asked the 2006 World Cup winner to stay on beyond the end of his current contract, which expires in the summer.

He was elected FIGC president in October 2018, becoming the permanent replacement for Carlo Tavecchio, who stepped down following Italy’s first World Cup play-off defeat to Sweden the previous year.

The highlight of his reign was Italy’s thrilling triumph at Euro 2020, when an Azzurri team that under Roberto Mancini went unbeaten for 37 matches beat England at Wembley to be crowned kings of the continent.

But two World Cup qualification failures and a dismal defence of the European title left Gravina with little choice but to resign as Italy shines in other sports while being left behind in football.

Gravina also caused anger on Tuesday by referring to other sports as “amateur” and “state sports” compared to football due to the large number of athletes, particularly Olympians, who are nominally employed by different arms of Italy’s armed forces and police.

Italy claimed a record 30 medals at the recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, including 10 golds, and left the 2024 Summer Games in Paris with 40 medals.

The Mediterranean nation also has top performers in a wide variety of other sports, with tennis star Jannik Sinner, a four-time Grand Slam winner, the most obvious example.

AFP