Giovanni Malagò elected president of FIGC

Giovanni Malagò was elected president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on Monday, June 22, 2026, tasked with leading the four-time world champions out of a profound crisis following their failure to qualify for a third consecutive FIFA World Cup. The 67-year-old businessman and former futsal player defeated his only challenger, former federation president Giancarlo Abete, securing 68.58 percent of the vote at an extraordinary general assembly in Rome.

Malagò, who recently headed the organizing committee for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics and previously served as president of the Italian National Olympic Committee, succeeds Gabriele Gravina. Gravina resigned after Italy's shock elimination in a World Cup qualifying playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina in April, a result that extended the national team's unprecedented absence from football's biggest tournament and triggered widespread outrage from fans and politicians.

In his first comments, Malagò acknowledged the scale of the challenge and called for unity. "Alone I can do nothing, together we can do everything," he said. He described the federation as the country's largest social institution, stating it must be a...