Lega Dilettanti

Lega Dilettanti entered the FIGC presidential succession crisis as a candidate-sponsor on 13 April 2026, confirming its president Giancarlo Abete as the grassroots federation's candidate to lead Italian football. The candidacy sets up a three-way contest against Serie A's preferred candidate Giovanni Malagò and a government-backed former-player field.

Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (Lega Dilettanti) is the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) division responsible for all amateur and semi-professional football below the professional leagues. It oversees Serie D — the fourth tier and highest amateur level — as well as regional leagues down to Sunday amateur football, representing hundreds of thousands of affiliated clubs and millions of players. As a FIGC constituent body, it holds a proportional voting block in FIGC elections.

The Lega Dilettanti's intervention in the FIGC election reflects long-running tension between the professional top tier and the grassroots base. Italy's 2026 World Cup non-qualification, its third consecutive failure, exposed faults in the professional development pathway that Lega Dilettanti has consistently argued trace back to neglect of the amateur game.