The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, has submitted his resignation on Thursday following Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup (June 11-July 19), the organization announced. “Mr. Gravina informed the members of the federal council that he had submitted his resignation from the mandate entrusted to him in February 2025 and that he had convened an extraordinary elective assembly on June 22 in Rome,” the FIGC stated.
Gabriele Gravina, 72 years old, had been in charge of FIGC since October 2018 and started his third term in February 2025. He is also the first vice-president of UEFA and close to the president of the European body, Aleksander Ceferin.
Under his leadership, Italy won Euro 2021, but failed to qualify for two World Cups (2022, 2026) and was eliminated from the last Euro in 2024 in the round of 16. This former businessman and ex-president of a small club from Abruzzo who briefly played in Serie B, had been under pressure since Italy’s defeat on Tuesday in the final of the European play-offs against Bosnia Herzegovina (1-1 a.e.t., 4-1 on penalties).
Will Gattuso and Buffon be next?
Initially, in order to preempt calls for his resignation, he called a federal council meeting immediately after the match against Bosnia to “evaluate and assess” his actions at the helm of the Italian Federation. But Italian Sports Minister Andrea Abodi had requested his departure the day after what the Italian press called the “third apocalypse” of Italian football. “Italian football needs to be restructured, and this process must involve a renewal at the helm of the FIGC,” Andrea Abodi stated.
Gabriele Gravina took over the powerful FIGC (1.5 million members) following the resignation of Carlo Tavecchio, after Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Carlo Tavecchio had himself succeeded Giancarlo Abete, who had been in office since 2007 and resigned after Italy’s elimination in the group stage of the 2014 Brazilian World Cup.
The name of Giovanni Malago, former president of the Italian Olympic Committee and the organizing committee of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, is the most mentioned to lead Italian football in crisis. By June 22, the coach of the Nazionale Gennaro Gattuso, appointed in June 2025, is expected to resign, according to the Italian press, as well as the team manager, former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
