Capello salutes Gravina’s resignation
Former coach Fabio Capello salutes Gabriele Gravina’s resignation: “He resigned, everyone expected it, so he acted correctly. I would say he behaved as expected.”
Italian football “in difficulty since 2006”
Renzo Ulivieri (coaches’ representative) talks about a “very sad meeting”: “Football is in difficulty today, but it has been the case since 2006. We will see what will happen now.”
“We must turn disappointment into optimism,” football players’ association calls for a revolution to revive Italian football
Umberto Calcagno, president of the football players’ association, reacts to the announcement of the president of the Federation’s resignation: “We are finally talking about a subject that we have been advocating for a long time, Italians do not play enough. We hope that we can, with politicians, develop rules that will revive Italian football. Gravina still enjoys the confidence and respect of the federation, but we understand that the period is difficult and we will all have to roll up our sleeves. We must turn disappointment into optimism.”
“Football is a flagship sport in Italy but we do not fully value what we do. We are not at war with foreigners. Other countries have different rules than us, like Spain, and yet 60% of the players are Spanish.”
“We must teach football differently from the base, so that our children develop a new passion for our sport. The change must occur at all levels, from the grassroots to the top. The Federation is not taking the necessary measures.”
Gravina expresses “regrets” after his controversial statement about “amateur” sport
In the statement from the Italian Football Federation, Gabriele Gravina, resigning president of the organization, also addressed his controversial statement.
“Football is a professional sport, the others are amateurs, we provide impartial media coverage,” he declared after Italy’s non-qualification for the World Cup, while other sports shine for the country. “The others are state sports, like winter sports: with the exception of Arianna Fontana (the speed skating star), they are all civil servants.”
In his statement today, he expresses his “regrets”: “These remarks had no intention of offending any sports discipline but referred more to the different internal and external rules of each sport (legal status of clubs, governance autonomy…).”
