Overview
- On Thursday, FIGC president Gabriele Gravina gathers leagues, players and coaches in Rome for crisis talks, with multiple outlets reporting he is expected to offer his resignation.
- Sports minister Andrea Abodi said he will personally ask Gravina to quit and asked Italy’s Olympic committee to study a takeover, though CONI rules make action for mere sporting failure unlikely.
- Public anger has boiled over in Rome, where eggs were thrown at FIGC’s headquarters and flowerbeds were torn up after Italy’s playoff loss to Bosnia ended a third straight World Cup bid.
- Gravina’s post‑match line contrasting professional football with other sports described as ‘dilettantistici’ drew sharp rebukes from Olympic medalists and fueled cross‑party calls for change from figures like Matteo Salvini, Ignazio La Russa and Matteo Renzi.
- Succession talk is already under way, with names floated including Giovanni Malagò, Giancarlo Abete, Matteo Marani and Demetrio Albertini, while Serie A pushes to curb the current voting system that gives non‑club groups decisive weight and could shape July elections if Gravina resigns.