The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, has resigned following the country’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The FIGC announced Gravina had resigned on Thursday, two days after Italy were beaten on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina in their qualification playoff final. The result means Italy will miss out on a place at the men’s World Cup for a third successive edition.
“It’s evident to everyone that Italian soccer needs to be overhauled,” Italian sports minister Andrea Abodi said on Wednesday, via ESPN, “and that process needs to start with new leadership at the FIGC.”
A new FIGC chief will be elected on June 22, the federation confirmed. Thursday’s statement did not include news about head coach Gennaro Gattuso.
Gravina has been FIGC president since October 2018. The 72-year-old was able to survive the men’s team’s 2022 elimination by North Macedonia in World Cup qualifying and the last-16 defeat against Switzerland at the 2024 European Championship.
By contrast, the women’s senior side reached the quarter-finals of the 2019 World Cup, before being eliminated at the group stage four years later. At the Euros, they suffered another group-stage exit in 2022 but reached the semi-finals a year ago.
Gravina has overseen the reign of three men’s head coaches: Roberto Mancini (who won Euro 2020 during his five-year spell in charge), Luciano Spalletti and Gattuso.
After the defeat against Bosnia, Gravina praised the performances of the Italian players, saying: “Gattuso defined them as heroic,” but also acknowledged that the team was in a “time of great crisis”.
Gravina also sits on the Executive Committee of UEFA, European football’s governing body, as one of its five vice-presidents. Before taking the top job at the FIGC, he was president of Lega Pro, the organisation that operates Italy’s third-tier Serie C.
Gattuso could not end Italy’s men’s World Cup drought (Srdjan Stevanovic – UEFA/UEFA via Getty Images)
Immediately after Tuesday’s game, Gattuso apologised for the penalty shootout defeat, telling Italian broadcaster RAI: “The lads didn’t deserve to take a beating like that. I’m proud of my lads.
“We needed this (World Cup qualification) – for ourselves, for Italy, for our sport. A blow like this is hard to take.
“I’ve been in football for a few years now; sometimes I’ve celebrated, sometimes I’ve taken blows like today’s.
“Personally, I apologise for not making it to the World Cup. My future? It’s not important right now. We’ll take this performance, but it hurts, it’s a shame.”
Gattuso, a former Italy international and World Cup winner, replaced Luciano Spalletti as coach of the men’s team last summer.
The Italy job is Gattuso’s tenth job in 13 years of management. The 48-year-old has also had spells in charge of Palermo, Pisa, Milan, Napoli, Valencia and Marseille.
Italy have won the World Cup on four occasions, most recently in 2006, a squad which Gattuso was part of. However, they have not progressed past the group stage since their 2006 triumph.
