Italian men’s soccer, in contrast to other Italian teams, has been struggling of late.
Published April 2, 2026
The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) has resigned after his men’s national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third year in a row.
Gabriele Gravina announced his resignation as the country’s top football executive after a meeting held at the FIGC headquarters in Rome on Thursday.
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His announcement came a day after Sports Minister Andrea Abodi called on him to resign.
Four-time World Cup champions Italy were eliminated from the playoffs again on Tuesday, this time on penalties against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and will miss this year’s finals to be played in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The shock of the latest humiliation against one of the world’s most successful footballing nations has forced the 72-year-old Gravina to return to his original plan to wait until next week’s FIGC board meeting to announce a decision on his future.
The FIGC announced in a statement that voting for a new president will take place on June 22nd.
Giovanni Malago, former long-time head of the Italian Olympic Committee and president of the Organizing Committee for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, is also reportedly one of the hat’s namesakes.
Coach Gennaro Gattuso is also expected to resign by then, with GM Gianluigi Buffon, a former Italy national team goalkeeper, also announcing his resignation on Thursday.
Abodi issued the following statement after Italy failed to qualify for the first-ever 48-team World Cup, which included Cape Verde and Curaçao. “It is clear that Italian football needs to be fundamentally restructured, and that starts with a change at the top of the FIGC.”
His comments came a day after Gravina admitted that Italian football was “in a serious crisis” but slammed politicians who “only ask for their resignation”.
Gravina was elected FIGC president in October 2018, permanently replacing Carlo Tavecchio, who resigned the previous year after Italy lost to Sweden for the first time in the World Cup play-offs.
The highlight of his reign was Italy’s thrilling victory at Euro 2020. Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri team, who were unbeaten in 37 games, defeated England at Wembley and were crowned continental champions for the second time.
But with Italian football in dire straits after two World Cup qualifying defeats and a crushing loss at the European title, Gravina was left with little choice but to resign.
And it’s not just about the poor performance of the national team or Serie A clubs; no club has won the Champions League since 2010.
Italy will co-host Euro 2032 with Turkiye. But on Thursday, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin slammed Italian stadiums and warned the country could be stripped of its hosting rights.
“We just hope that the infrastructure (in Italy) is in place. If not, the tournament will not be held in Italy,” Ceferin said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper.
Italian soccer’s decline stands in contrast to its success in other sports.
Italy won 30 medals, including 10 gold medals, at the recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, leaving them with 40 medals for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.
The Mediterranean country is also home to top athletes in a variety of other sports, including tennis star Jannik Sinner, who won four Grand Slams.
Gravina sparked outrage on Tuesday by calling other sports “amateur” and “national sports” compared to soccer, as many athletes, particularly Olympic athletes, are nominally employed by various branches of the Italian military and police.
