Common Questions

What is CONI in Italy?: 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
What is CONI and what role does it play in Italian sport?: CONI is Italy's Olympic Committee, founded in 1914, overseeing 50 national sports federations and Italian participation in Olympic and Paralympic Games. President Giovanni Malagò is seeking to move from CONI to lead the FIGC.
Who is the current CONI president?: Giovanni Malagò, who has been president since 2013 and is now the frontrunner to become FIGC president in the June 2026 election.
What is CONI's connection to the FIGC presidential election?: CONI president Giovanni Malagò is the frontrunner to succeed Gabriele Gravina as FIGC president. If elected on 22 June, he would leave CONI — an unusual institutional crossing between Olympic and football governance in Italy.Source: Lowdown

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 current president, Giovanni Malagò, emerged as a frontrunner to replace Gabriele Gravina as FIGC president following Gravina's resignation on 2 April 2026.

Serie A confirmed Malagò as its candidate on 13 April, backed by 18 of 20 clubs, sidelining the government's preference for a former-player field . On 20 April, the league presented him with a 20-point reform programme it had written itself . The race is not decided: the AIC players' union and AIAC coaches' association form a combined 30% swing bloc whose votes will determine whether Malagò or rival candidate Giancarlo Abete wins the 22 June Federal Council assembly . CONI's role has been contested in recent years; Italy's Parliament previously passed legislation creating a separate government body, Sport e Salute, to distribute funds, reducing CONI's financial power before a 2021 decree partially restored its governance authority.

Malagò's potential move from CONI to the FIGC presidency would represent a crossing of institutional lines between Olympic governance and football administration, unusual but not unprecedented in Italian sport. The outcome of the June assembly will shape who appoints the next Italy head coach and what reform programme the federation pursues ahead of Euro 2032.

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.

How the World Sees Them

IOC

A CONI president pivoting to football administration mid-term could complicate Italy's representation on international Olympic committees at a sensitive moment for Milan-Cortina 2026.

Italy

CONI is a respected governance body but its football credentials are limited; Malagò taking the FIGC role would be a pragmatic emergency appointment rather than an organic succession.

Italian football

After the chaos of Gravina's tenure, the FIGC needs external authority and credibility; an Olympic governance background offers a clean-slate alternative to internal candidates.