Italian football is cracking after the Azzurra’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. This Thursday saw the resignations of the president of the Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, and the head of the Italian team’s delegation, Gianluigi Buffon.
Gabriele Gravina He leaves office, according to the FIGC, after a meeting at the organization’s headquarters. “Today a meeting took place between President Gabriele Gravina and the presidents of the member federations at the FIGC headquarters in Rome. At the beginning of the meeting, Gravina informed the highest representatives (…) that he had resigned from the position he held“he added in a statement.
The next Elections will be held on June 22 to elect the new president after Gravina’s resignation. Giovanni Malagó, former president of CONI and the Milan Cortina 2026 Foundation, appears as one of the candidates with possibilities, according to local media.
Gravina, during his tenure as head of Italian football that he took over after the team’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, He led a period marked by structural reformstwo new absences from the World Cup (2022 and 2026) and the conquest of Euro 2020, played in 2021.
He was elected president of the FIGC on October 22, 2018, in the first vote and with 97.20% of the support. Until that moment he was president of Lega Pro, corresponding to Serie C, the third division of Italian football. In February 2021 he was re-elected as head of the FIGC until 2024 with 73.45% of the votes. Subsequently, On February 3, 2025, he was again re-elected as president and began his third consecutive term.scheduled until 2028, receiving more than 98% of the votes as the only candidate. Additionally, in April 2025 he was elected a member of the UEFA Executive Committee for a four-year term and is the first vice president of that organization.
In the field of sports and the ‘Nazionale’supported different coaches in times of difficulty, like Luciano Spalletti or the current one, Gennaro Gattuso, whom he asked after the recent defeat to “continue leading these guys.” “Just like I asked (Gianluigi) Buffon,” he said.
After Italy’s third World Cup absence, there were numerous reactions both at the fan level and at the institutional level. Even the Minister of Sports, Andrea Abodi, as well as the Lega political party, a member of the government coalition, They requested his resignation and a restructuring of the FIGC leadership.
Although some, like UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, came to his defense. “Gabriele is my first vice president and he is very important to me. But the biggest loss would be for the FIGC. It will not be easy to find a gentleman who loves football and Italy so much,” he said this Thursday in an interview with the newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Buffon presented his resignation a minute later: “It was an urgent act”
“Presenting my resignation one minute after the end of the match against Bosnia was an urgent act, which came from deep within me. As spontaneous as the tears and that pain in the heart that I know I share with all of you. “I was asked to wait to allow everyone to make the relevant reflections,” Buffon posted on his Instagram account.
The former Italian soccer player, one of the best goalkeepers in history, asserted that, “now that President Gravina has decided to step aside,” he feels “free to do” what he considers “an act of responsibility.” “Because, despite the sincere conviction of having built a lot in terms of spirit and group together with ‘Rino’ Gattuso and all the collaborators in the very short time available in the national team, The main objective was to return Italy to the World Cup. And we didn’t make it“he added.
“It is fair to leave whoever comes next the freedom to choose the figure they consider best to occupy my position,” he said. “I carry everything in my heart, with gratitude for the privilege and teaching that, even in this painful epilogue, this intense experience leaves me,” he concluded.
