CONI is Italy's national Olympic committee, founded in 1914. It represents Italy to the IOC and oversees 50 national sports federations.Source: background

Is CONI's president taking over from Gravina at the FIGC?

Giovanni Malagò emerged as a frontrunner for the FIGC presidency following Gravina's resignation in April 2026, with an election assembly scheduled for 22 June.Source: background

What does CONI do in Italian sport?

CONI coordinates Italy's participation in the Olympics and Paralympics, and oversees 50 national sports federations across 107 provinces.Source: background

Background

CONI (Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano) was founded in 1914 and serves as Italy's representative body to the International Olympic Committee, overseeing 50 national sports federations and coordinating Italian participation in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Its role has been contested in recent years: Italy's Parliament created a separate body, Sport e Salute, to distribute funds, reducing CONI's financial power before a 2021 decree partially restored its governance authority. Former president Giovanni Malagò served four consecutive terms from 2013 to 2025 and led the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics organising committee.

By 11 May 2026, Malagò had met Lega B (6 May) and Lega Pro (8 May) while telling LaPresse he is 'getting ready' to file. CONI's institutional prestige is central to his FIGC candidacy pitch — Olympic-grade administration experience applied to football's structural failings.

CONI's Collegio di Garanzia (its internal arbitration and governance body) received a formal eligibility referral from Sports Minister Andrea Abodi on 4 June 2026. Abodi asked whether former CONI president Giovanni Malagò is eligible to stand for the FIGC presidency under a three-year pantouflage cooling-off rule. Malagò Left the CONI presidency in June 2025, one year before the FIGC election on 22 June. The Collegio di Garanzia must rule by 15 June (the Deadline Abodi set), one week before the Federal Council vote. A ruling against Malagò would remove the frontrunner from the ballot and reshape the presidential race.

Malagò's move from CONI to a potential FIGC presidency represents a crossing of institutional lines between Olympic governance and football administration, unusual but not unprecedented in Italian sport. CONI's institutional prestige has been central to his FIGC candidacy pitch: Olympic-grade administration experience applied to football's structural failings.