The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, presented his resignation on Thursday, 48 hours after Italy was eliminated on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina in the final playoff for the 2026 World Cup (June 11 – July 19).
“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 called for an extraordinary elective assembly on June 22 in Rome,” the institution said in a statement.
Gravina, 72, had been in charge of FIGC since October 2018 and had started his third term in February 2025. He is also the first vice president of UEFA and close to the president of the European institution, Aleksander Ceferin.
Under his leadership, Italy won Euro 2021, but failed to qualify for two World Cups (2022, 2026) and was eliminated in the round of 16 at the last European Championship in 2024. He had come under pressure since Italy’s defeat on Tuesday in the European playoff final against Bosnia and Herzegovina (1-1 a.e.t., 4-1 on penalties).
Initially, in order to preempt calls for his resignation, Gravina called a federal council meeting right after the match against Bosnia to “review and evaluate” 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 must be restructured and this process must involve a renewal within the FIGC leadership,” he said.
Gravina took over the powerful FIGC (1.5 million licensees) following the resignation of Carlo Tavecchio after Italy’s failure, being beaten by Sweden in playoffs to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Tavecchio himself had succeeded Giancarlo Abete, who had been in office since 2007 and left his position after the elimination of the National Team 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 for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, is the most mentioned to take over a crisis-hit Italian football.
Gianluigi Buffon, who was the general manager of Italy, also announced his departure on social media. “Resigning a minute after the end of the match against Bosnia was a serious act that came from the depths of me. Spontaneous as the tears and the pain in my heart that I know I share with all of you,” he wrote, saying he had waited for President Gravina’s departure to announce his.
By June 22, the coach of the National Team, Gennaro Gattuso, appointed in June 2025, is also expected to leave according to the Italian press.
