Italy’s sports minister said the head of the country’s soccer federation should resign after the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third year in a row.
Italy awoke from anger and disillusionment on Wednesday after its national team lost to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs, missing out on the FIFA World Cup for the third straight year and prolonging a sporting nightmare for the soccer-mad nation.
“The Curse of the World Cup” was the front page of Italy’s main daily Corriere della Sera, calling for a rebuilding of the country, which despite producing some of the world’s greatest players has only won one final since lifting the trophy for the fourth time in 2006.
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“We are all at home,” said the headline in the country’s two major sports newspapers, La Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport, referring to another summer without a World Cup.
Roma fans were left stunned on Tuesday as Italy drew 1-1 with Bosnia before losing 4-1 on penalties, making it their third straight defeat in the play-offs, which included losses to Sweden and North Macedonia.
Italy were reduced to 10 men after Alessandro Bastoni was penalized for a last-man tackle in the 42nd minute. This was a key turning point in the match, with Italy in the lead at this point.
“Everything went wrong from the start of the game, the team wasn’t good, the players who weren’t doing well came in and played (anyway)… It doesn’t make sense. I’m shocked, to be honest,” Davide Caldarreta, who watched the match in a Rome pub, told Reuters.
“I’m really upset and disappointed,” Melanie Cardillo told Reuters.
He added: “Even when you’re disappointed, you always stay hopeful. This is the third time in a row.”
The Azzurri last played in the World Cup finals in 2014, when Bosnia was the only team to play in the tournament.
The Balkan team will face co-hosts Canada, Qatar and Switzerland in Group B this year.
The defeat sparked national outrage, with Italy’s sports minister Andrea Abodi calling on Italian Football Federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina to resign.
“It is clear that Italian football needs to be fundamentally restructured, and that starts with a change at the top of the FIGC,” Abodi said in a statement.
Gravina said he would not resign, but would decide whether to continue in his job at next week’s board meeting.
Abodi’s comments come amid a hostile relationship between the Italian government and Gravina, who spoke to the media after Italy’s defeat and slammed the Italian government’s lack of support for soccer.
Gravina also compared other sports to soccer, calling them “amateur” and “national sports” because of the large number of athletes, especially Olympic athletes, who are nominally employed by the Italian military and police.
Italy won 30 medals, including 10 gold medals, at the recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, leaving it with 40 medals for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
This Mediterranean country is also home to top athletes in a variety of other sports, the most obvious example being tennis star Jannik Sinner, who won four Grand Slams.
Abodi, who has been sports minister in Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right government since 2022, added: “I think it’s wrong to deny responsibility for failing to qualify for the World Cup for the third time and to blame a presumed failure, while downplaying the importance and professionalism of other sports.”
Speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who won two Olympic gold medals this winter, was one of several athletes to respond to Gravina’s comments, quipping on Instagram: “I’m an amateur.”
Meanwhile, former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said Italy’s loss was “unfortunately” not an April Fool’s joke.
“This is a sign that Italian football has failed,” he said. “In our country, soccer is not just entertainment, it is part of our culture and national identity.”
