Common Questions

Who does Italy's sports minister want as the new FIGC president?

Andrea Abodi is pushing for Paolo Maldini, the former AC Milan captain, according to La Stampa. No former player has ever led the FIGC.Source: La Stampa

What did Andrea Abodi say after Italy missed the 2026 World Cup?

Abodi demanded FIGC president Gravina resign and called for Italian football to be rebuilt from the ground up.Source: Sky Sport Italia

Can the Italian government choose the new FIGC president?

No. FIFA regulations prohibit direct government control of member federations. Abodi can push candidates but cannot impose one on the 274-delegate electoral assembly.Source: FIFA statutes

Background

Andrea Abodi is Italy's Minister for Sport and Youth, appointed in October 2022 as part of Giorgia Meloni's centre-right Coalition government. Following Italy's 4-1 penalty defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina on 31 March 2026, Abodi publicly demanded that FIGC president Gabriele Gravina resign, calling for Italian football to be rebuilt from the ground up. His statement elevated the governance crisis from a football matter to a formal political demand.

Before entering politics, Abodi was president of Istituto per il Credito Sportivo, Italy's sports finance institution, and a long-standing figure in Italian sports administration. His dual role as a government minister with deep institutional knowledge of football finance gives his calls for structural reform unusual weight compared with typical political comment on sporting affairs.

Following Gravina's resignation on 2 April, Abodi moved from demanding departure to shaping succession, pushing for former AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini to stand as FIGC president. On 4 June 2026 he sent a formal request to ANAC (the anti-corruption authority) and to CONI's Collegio di Garanzia asking whether frontrunner Giovanni Malagò is eligible to lead the FIGC, citing a three-year pantouflage cooling-off rule. Malagò Left the CONI presidency in June 2025, one year before the election. Abodi set 15 June as the Deadline for a response, three days after the World Cup opens and one week before the 22 June Federal Council vote.