DIRECT. Crisis in Italian football: the president of the Italian Federation resigns, Buffon too… heads roll after the debacle

Head of the Italian delegation, Gianluigi Buffon announced his resignation, following that of Gabriele Gravina. The former goalkeeper specifies that he wanted to announce it immediately after Bosnia.

“Now that President Gravina has resigned, I feel free to act as I wish,” Buffon wrote on We didn’t get there.”

He also insists on the need to review everything from the ground up, in particular “rethinking the way in which we train the talents of the future national team”.

Former coach Fabio Capello welcomes Gabriele Gravina’s resignation: “He resigned, everyone expected it, so he acted correctly. I would say he behaved as was expected of him.”

Renzo Ulivieri (coaching representatives) speaks of a “very sad meeting”: “Football is in difficulty today, but that has been the case since 2006. We will see what happens now.”

Umberto Calcagno, president of the football players’ association, reacts to the announcement of the resignation of the president of the Federation: “We are finally talking about a subject that we have defended for a long time, the Italians do not play enough. We hope that we can, with the political leaders, develop rules that will relaunch Italian football. Gravina still benefits from the trust and respect of the federation but we understand that the period is difficult and that we will all have to roll up our sleeves. We must turn disappointment into optimism.

“Football is a flagship sport in Italy but we fail to fully promote what we do. We are not at war with foreigners. Other countries have the same rules as us, like Spain, and yet 60% of the players are Spanish.”

“We need to teach football differently from the ground up, so that our children develop a new passion for our sport. Change needs to happen at all levels, from the grassroots to the top. The federation is not taking the necessary steps.”

In the press release from the Italian Football Federation, Gabriele Gravina, resigning president of the body, also returned to his controversial sentence.

“Football is a professional sport, the others are amateurs, we provide impartial media coverage,” he declared after Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup, while other sports make the country shine. “The others are state sports, like winter sports: with the exception of Arianna Fontana (the speed skating star, Editor’s note), they are all civil servants.”

In his press release today, he said his “regrets”: “These comments had no intention of offending any sporting discipline but rather referred to the different internal and external rules” of each sport (legal status of clubs, autonomy of governance, etc.).

During today’s extraordinary meeting, in front of representatives of Italian football, Gabriele Gravina announced that he would answer questions from the Committee on Culture, Science and Education of the Chamber of Deputies on April 8, at 11 a.m. This commission aims to take stock of the situation in Italian football.

As expected in recent hours, Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian Football Federation, announced his resignation.

The election of his successor will take place on June 22, during an extraordinary elective assembly in Rome.

The Italian press announces that today’s meeting, at the initiative of the president of the Federation Gabriele Gravina, has just started. It should decide the fate of Gennaro Gattuso after the elimination of Italy in the World Cup play-off.

According to Corriere dello Sport, Ezio Simonelli, president of Serie A, will speak to the clubs around 6:30 p.m. to inform them of the conclusions of the day’s meeting.

According to Sky Italia, Roberto Mancini would be delighted to return to help the Italian team: if he is under contract until 2027 with Al-Sadd, he could resign in the event of a call from the Federation to take over the reins of the selection.

It was he who led Italy to the Euro 2021 coronation.

Ezio Maria Simonelli (president of Serie A), Paolo Bedin (Serie B), Matteo Marani (Serie C), Giancarlo Abete (Lega Nazionale Dilettanti), Umberto Calcagno (players’ representative) and Renzo Ulivieri (coaches’ representatives) will be around the table, as will of course the president of the Italian Football Federation Gabriele Gravina.

Michele Uva, at UEFA since 2017, has been appointed executive director of Euro 2032 Italy. The competition will be co-organized with Turkey.

The president of the Italian Football Federation Gabriele Gravina had just arrived at the body’s headquarters in preparation for today’s extraordinary meeting. It should start around 2:30 p.m.

According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Gennaro Gattuso should not remain Italy coach after the failure to qualify for the World Cup. Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini are cited to succeed him but also… Pep Guardiola.

>>> Guardiola’s big odds to coach Italy

Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi believes that a reflection should be opened, within the framework of the European Union, on possible quotas of Italian players within Serie A teams: “The number of Italians on the field is a solution which can be discussed with the EU”, he said on Italian radio RTL. “There cannot be any restrictions (at the moment) but we can discuss possible financial incentives, or even make it official quickly.”

In an interview with Sports JournalAleksander Ceferin, president of UEFA, strongly criticized the Italian political leaders who he considers largely responsible for Italy’s new elimination from the World Cup. He ardently defends his vice-president, Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian Federation, who was forced to resign.

>> All the details here: “One of the worst infrastructures in Europe”, Ceferin ignites Italian politicians after elimination for the World Cup

“It’s absolutely not Gabriele’s fault, and I would never dare blame the players or the manager. Perhaps Italian politicians should ask themselves why Italy has one of the worst footballing infrastructures in Europe…

“It makes me angry and it saddens me to see people who wait ‘secretly’ for a problem to arise and then start criticizing,” he fumes. “They don’t support Italy, they support themselves. Tell me which Italian player should have been selected? That’s football, and even with the best players on the pitch, anyone can lose a match.”

Ceferin concludes his vigorous interview with a threat against political leaders: that of withdrawing the co-organization of Euro 2032 (with Turkey). “Euro 2032 is scheduled and will take place: I hope that the infrastructure will be ready. Otherwise, the tournament will not take place in Italy,” he says as an ultimatum.

Failed in his commando mission to qualify Italy for the World Cup, Gennaro Gattuso has little chance of being retained as coach of the Nazionale.

According to information from Gazzetta dello Sport, Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini would act as favorites to succeed him at the head of the national team. The two coaches know the transalpine selection well having already been its coach.

But the daily life has a third name, almost dreamed of but how difficult to complete: Pep Guardiola. In the event of departure from Manchester City and a financial agreement with Italy, the Catalan technician could thus be the man of reconstruction.

Several avenues are already emerging in the Italian press to succeed Gabriele Gravina at the head of the FIFC. The big favorite is Giovanni Malagò, member of the IOC, the Olympic Program Commission and the Los Angeles 2028 Coordination Commission, as well as president of the Milano Cortina 2026 Foundation (until its dissolution, expected in a few months). Two other internal FIGC solutions are cited: Giancarlo Abete and Matteo Marani.

Other much better known names are emerging: Adriano Galliani, legendary manager of AC Milan, Alessandro Del Piero, former iconic player of Juventus Turin, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacurta and Demetrio Albertini.

After having persisted in keeping his post in the first hours following the elimination of the Italian, Gabriele Gravina seems to have made up his mind and should leave his post as president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). “His resignation is imminent,” say the Italian sports newspapers this Thursday.

The leader decided not to wait for the meeting of the Federal Council scheduled for next week and to meet this Thursday with the heads of the components of the FIGC, namely the leagues and the presidents of the professional associations. Gravina should announce his resignation to them “perceived as a positive sign of responsibility, even if it is not excluded that some (certainly not Lega Serie A and B) will ask him to stay, particularly given his role at UEFA (he is assistant vice-president) with a view to Euro 2032”, specifies the Gazzetta dello Sport.

Once his resignation is made official, Gravina will convene a new elective assembly which will elect a new president within 90 days. Candidates must submit their candidacy within 40 days preceding the election.

Gabriele Gravina, president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), aroused the indignation of Italian society by scorning the success of other Italian sports after the elimination of the Nazionale for the 2026 World Cup.

>> All the details here: the sentence from the President of the Federation which shocks Italy after the elimination for the World Cup

“Football is a professional sport, the others are amateurs, we provide impartial media coverage,” he explained. “The others are state sports, like winter sports: with the exception of Arianna Fontana (the speed skating star, Editor’s note), they are all civil servants.”

While Gabriele Gravina confirmed his intention to remain at the head of the Italian Football Federation despite the Azzuri’s new failure to qualify for the World Cup, on Tuesday, the Italian Minister of Sports, Andrea Abodi, called for his resignation.

>> All the details here: the Minister of Sports calls for the resignation of the President of the Federation

“It is obvious to everyone that Italian football must be overhauled,” he wrote in a press release the day after Italy’s defeat in the European play-off final against Bosnia (1-1 ap, 4 tab to 1). According to the minister, “this process must go through a renewal within the management of the FIGC”, chaired since 2018 by Gabriele Gravina

Gabriele Gravina confirmed, Tuesday evening, his intention to remain at the head of the Italian Football Federation despite the new fiasco of the Nazionale and the new failure in the race for the World Cup. “I understand the calls for resignation, it is an exercise to which I have become particularly accustomed in recent times, but the decisions legitimately come back to the Federal Council,” insisted the 72-year-old leader to the press after the non-qualification of the Italians for the next World Cup.

>> All the details: Gravina did not want to resign on Tuesday evening

Welcome to our live to follow the repercussions of Italy’s new failure to qualify for the Football World Cup following the defeat against Bosnia-Herzegovina (1-1, 4 tab 1), Tuesday. In the eye of the storm, the president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gavrina, is expected to resign this Thursday.