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ROME, ITALY – JUNE 19: FIGC President Gabriele Gravina attends the press conference at Hotel Parco dei Principi on June 19, 2025 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)
Outgoing head of the Italian football association Gabriele Gravina says that calls for Italy to replace Iran at the 2026 World Cup are ‘shameful’, that the Azzurri supporters are ‘the only ones who deserve to go’, but insists ‘I don’t think I failed’ in the role of FIGC President.
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Gravina tendered his resignation from the FIGC shortly after Italy’s failure to overcome Bosnia and Herzegovina in the World Cup play-off final at the end of March, which cost the Nazionale a place at the final tournament for a third time in a row.
An election to appoint Gravina’s successor will take place on June 22. Giovanni Malagò and Giancarlo Abete are the two leading candidates to take over the role.
Gravina had an opportunity to discuss his departure from the FIGC, his tenure as the head of the Italian FA and the suggestions that Italy could still feature at the 2026 World Cup in an interview on ‘Otto e mezzo’ on La7.
Gravina insists that he was not ‘pressured’ into stepping down from his role as FIGC President in any way following Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
Gravina on FIGC tenure and Italy at the 2026 World Cup proposal: ‘I don’t think I failed, fans the only ones who deserve to go’
“I wasn’t forced to resign, absolutely not. It was my personal choice. I made a commitment to Italian football fans that we would get to the World Cup and unfortunately I wasn’t able to keep true to this commitment,” said Gravina (via La Gazzetta dello Sport).
He continued: “It was right to resign, a gesture of love and responsibility.
“I’m not one to be pressured, I reason with my head and with calmness. This was an act of responsibility for the federation. There was institutional hysteria happening all over the place, it was good to not leave the FIGC over-exposed.”
Despite the fact that Italy’s senior men’s side failed to qualify for the World Cup twice during Gravina’s FIGC Presidency, he doesn’t believe that his entire tenure should be classed as a failure.
He was keen to point out that there is more than one national team that the FIGC oversees and claimed that certain complaints from supporters relate to issues that the FIGC has no control over.
“I don’t think I failed,” Gravina insisted. “If we’re talking about small incidents, then of course, I failed, but if we want to talk about the activity in all its forms and all the projects we carried out, our federation is among the most appreciated in Europe and in the world.
“Italians attribute responsibilities to the FIGC that the FIGC does not have. There is confusion about roles. We’ve not gone to the World Cup three times and the pattern is always the same, looking for a scapegoat. Everyone is convinced that the national team players depend on the FIGC, but there are leagues, competitions and certain rules and laws that have to be respected.
“We’re evaluating the work that the federation does based off one single national team, but there are many, male and female.”
Gravina also stands by the fact that he feels Gravina was the right man to take over as head coach of the Italy national team following the departure of Luciano Spalletti as CT last summer.
“For me, he was absolutely the right man for the job. He was the best and at that moment we needed someone who would help the guys rediscover the values that the shirt holds. But unfortunately, the sporting side of it was missing.”
And on the recent suggestions that Italy could potentially replace Iran at the 2026 World Cup, Gravina said: “It seems to me to be a fanciful and shameful idea. We’re negotiating for the passion of the Italian fans, who are the only ones who deserve to go to the World Cup.”
ByPeter Young
Peter Young is a Senior Reporter with Football Italia.
