Gravina steps down after Italy’s World Cup failure
Gabriele Gravina has resigned as president of the Italian Football Federation, known as the FIGC, during a meeting with the federation’s main components. The election to choose his successor has been set for June 22.
The announcement came during a summit with the presidents of the federation’s constituent groups. Present at the meeting were the heads of Serie A, Serie B, Serie C, the amateur leagues, the players’ union and the coaches’ association: Ezio Maria Simonelli, Paolo Bedin, Matteo Marani, Giancarlo Abete, Umberto Calcagno and Renzo Ulivieri.
The timing is hard to miss, even if Italian football has clearly tried to act as though timing is not part of the job. Gravina’s exit follows Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup, the country’s third straight missed tournament and the second under his leadership.
What the FIGC said
In the official statement confirming the resignation and announcing the election date, the federation said Gravina thanked the various components for the public and private support they had shown him.
The same note said he also told the presidents that he was willing to appear in front of the Culture, Science and Education Committee of the Chamber of Deputies on April 8 at 11 a.m. to report on the state of Italian football.
According to the statement, Gravina will use that hearing to provide “the most complete and exhaustive possible” account of the strengths and weaknesses of the sport’s movement in Italy. He is also expected to address some of the issues already raised in the press conference held after the national team’s match in Zenica on Tuesday, March 31.
Regret over the debate on amateur and professional sport
During the federation meeting, Gravina also said he regretted how his comments about the difference between amateur and professional sport were interpreted after the Bosnia-Italy match in Zenica. Those remarks triggered criticism, including reactions from several Italian Olympic medalists.
He clarified that his words were not meant to be offensive toward any sporting discipline. As the FIGC explained in its statement, Gravina was referring instead to the different internal and external regulations governing the two systems.
That included, among other things, the presence in some federations of leagues with their own autonomy, as well as the corporate nature of professional football clubs, which are subject to a different national and international legal framework than amateur clubs.
So, in the end, the federation managed to fit a resignation, a hearing, a clarification and a new election into one announcement. Italian football remains committed to consistency, if not always on the pitch.
