Italian athletes wasted little time answering Gabriele Gravina after the FIGC president tried to explain Italy’s football collapse with a line that landed badly, to put it mildly. Speaking after Bosnia-Italy and following the Azzurri’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Gravina said: "Football is a professional sport, the other sports are amateur sports."

That was enough to spark a wave of reactions from Italy’s most decorated athletes, who made clear they did not appreciate being placed in the hobby section of national sport.

Irma Testa: "The real professionals are us"

Irma Testa, the Italian boxer who won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, went straight for the throat on social media.

"The real professionals are us, we compete and win for the jersey and for our country, while watching millionaire footballers make a mess of it. I train more than a footballer, earning less than their chefs or their nannies. Even so, when I lose, which is not often, I feel the weight of an entire nation, which still asks me for nothing because it is busy watching football... Forza Italia, pasta and Toto Cutugno."

It was a pointed rebuke, and not exactly the sort of message likely to be filed under "team building."

Arianna Fontana posts her medals

Arianna Fontana, Italy’s most decorated Olympian, also reacted on Instagram. She posted an image that included a broken World Cup trophy, a torn airline ticket and the word "End," alongside her blue medals from the Olympics.

"It hurts, there is no point pretending otherwise. Italy did not qualify for the World Cup, and for those who represent these colors it is a heavy blow," she wrote.

Fontana then said difficult moments should serve a purpose, arguing that they should lead to reflection, growth and higher expectations.

"Talent, strength and passion are not lacking in this country. We have proved it: 40 medals in Paris 2024, 30 medals in Milan-Cortina 2026. Italy knows how to win. And that is exactly why it must want to do it again, always, everywhere. Forza Italia. Always."

Pietro Sighel: "If you want to swap, I’m available"

Pietro Sighel, the short track gold medalist from the latest Milan-Cortina Olympics, also joined in.

On his Instagram profile, he reposted a video of Gravina’s interview and added a brief but fairly clear invitation to the football world:

"If it can help any footballer," he wrote, "I am available to swap."

Not a subtle response, in case anyone was hoping for one.

Gravina’s words, meant as a defense of football’s professional status, ended up doing the opposite of calming things down. Instead, they gave Italy’s top athletes a fresh reason to point out that training, pressure and national expectations are hardly exclusive to the sport with the biggest TV audience.