Official: Gravina resigns as FIGC President after 3rd World Cup failure
Gabriele Gravina has officially resigned from his position as President of the FIGC following Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third tournament cycle in a row.
Official: Gravina is no longer FIGC President
Gravina has tendered his resignation at an emergency meeting of the FIGC general council following Italy’s World Cup play-off final defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday evening.
An election to appoint his replacement will take place on June 22.
Present at the emergency FIGC meeting were Serie A President Ezio Simonelli, Serie B President Paolo Bedin, Serie C President Matteo Marani, President of the amateur leagues Giancarlo Abete, head of the players’ association Umberto Calcagno and head of the coaches’ association Renzo Ulivieri.
Gravina has held the highest position within the Italian football association since October 2018. The Nazionale won Euro 2020 during his tenure, but also failed to qualify for the 2022 and 2026 World Cups while he was in charge. Italy had also failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup prior to Gravina’s appointment.
Gravina was in charge of the Italian federation for the appointments of Luciano Spalletti and Gennaro Gattuso as head coaches in 2023 and 2025 respectively.
There had been calls from fans and senior figures within Italian football for Gravina to step down from his position as FIGC President in the wake of the latest failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Minister for Sport Andrea Abodi said on Wednesday that: “it’s evident that Italian football needs to be rebuilt, and this process must start with a renewal of the FIGC leadership.”
It remains to be seen who will take over the position as the head of the Italian football association.
Former CONI chief Giovanni Malago is among the early frontrunners, as are the aforementioned Abete and Marani.
What FIGC said about Gravina resignation
“The meeting between President Gabriele Gravina and the presidents of the federal components took place today at the FIGC headquarters in Rome,” began a statement from the FIGC.
“At the beginning of the work, Gravina informed the top representatives of the Serie A Football League Ezio Maria Simonelli, the B League Paolo Bedin, the Pro League Matteo Marani, the National Amateur League Giancarlo Abete, the Italian Footballers Association Umberto Calcagno and the Italian Football Coaches Association Renzo Ulivieri, that he had resigned from the position entrusted to him in February 2025 and that he had called the Extraordinary Elective Assembly of the FIGC for the June 22 in Rome.
“The date was identified in full compliance with the Federal Statute and to ensure that the new governance can complete the registration procedure for the next professional championships.
“During the meeting, Gravina thanked the members for renewing, in public and private, the closeness and support to himself and informed the presidents that he had gladly made himself available to speak at a hearing on 8 April (11 am) in the VII Commission for Culture, Science and Education of the Chamber of Deputies to report on the state of health of Italian football.
“It will be there that President Gravina will expose, in the most complete and exhaustive way possible, a report on the strengths and weaknesses of the movement, also touching on some of the issues already addressed in the press conference held after the national team match played in Zenica last Tuesday 31 March.
“In this regard, Gravina said he regretted the interpretation of his words on the difference between amateur and professional sports, which were absolutely not intended to be offensive to any sporting discipline, but were a reference to the different internal laws and regulations (for example, the presence in the governance of some Federations of Leagues with their relative autonomy) and external (with express reference to the corporate nature of the Clubs professional football clubs that must be subject to national and international legislation different from amateur clubs).”