Italy’s Sports Minister Andrea Abodi said on Wednesday that the head of the country’s football federation should resign after the national team failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.
The Azzurri fell into the play-offs again, this time after a penalty shootout against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday, and will miss this summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The head of the federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, said he would not resign but that a board meeting next week would decide whether he would retain his position.
“It is clear that Italian football needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and that starts with changes at the top of the FIGC,” Abodi said in a statement.
Abodi’s comments come amid hostilities between the Italian government and Gravina, who, speaking to the media after Italy’s defeat, lashed out at a perceived lack of support for the state’s football.
Gravina also referred to other sports as «amateur sports» and «state sports» compared to football due to the large number of athletes, especially Olympians, nominally employed by various branches of the Italian armed forces and police.
Italy claimed a record 30 medals at the recent Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, including 10 gold, and left the 2024 Summer Games in Paris with 40 medals.
The Mediterranean country is also a top performer in a range of other sports, with tennis star Jannik Sinner, a four-time Grad Slam winner, the most obvious example.
“I believe it is a mistake to deny responsibility for the third missed World Cup qualification and accuse the institutions of a perceived failure, while downplaying the importance and professionalism of other sports,” added Abodi, who has been Sports Minister in Giorgia Meloni’s far-right government since 2022.
Speed skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who won two Olympic gold medals last winter, was one of several athletes who responded to Gravina’s comments, sarcastically saying on Instagram: «I’m an amateur.»
Published on April 1, 2026
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