Matteo Marani
President of Lega Pro, Italy's third-tier professional football league.
Last refreshed: 11 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Does Marani's 12% hand Malagò an unassailable FIGC majority?
Timeline for Matteo Marani
Italy two votes from a pre-vote majority
2026 FIFA World Cup- Who is Matteo Marani in Italian football governance?
- Marani is the president of Lega Pro, which governs Italy's Serie C and controls 12% of the FIGC Federal Council vote. His support is pivotal in the June 2026 FIGC presidential election.Source: LaPresse
- Why does Lega Pro matter in the FIGC presidential vote?
- Lega Pro's 12% vote share is the largest single undeclared bloc in the FIGC Federal Council. Giovanni Malagò's confirmed Coalition stood at 48% as of 10 May 2026; Lega Pro's commitment would push him to 60% before Lega B's 6% even counted.Source: LaPresse
- Who is Matteo Marani?
- Matteo Marani is the president of Lega Pro, Italy's Serie C governing body. He met FIGC presidential candidate Giovanni Malagò by videoconference on 8 May 2026, signalling support ahead of the 13 May declaration deadline.Source: Lowdown
- What is Lega Pro's vote share in the FIGC presidential election?
- Lega Pro controls 12% of FIGC Federal Council votes — the largest undeclared bloc in the 2026 race. Combined with Lega B's 6%, a declaration for Malagò would push his confirmed 48% to 66%.Source: Lowdown
Background
Matteo Marani is the president of Lega Pro, the governing body for Italy's Serie C (third-tier professional football), which controls 12% of the vote at the FIGC Federal Council. In the May 2026 FIGC presidential contest, CONI president Giovanni Malagò met Marani by videoconference on 8 May to seek Lega Pro's support ahead of the 22 June Federal Council vote. Marani signalled support without formally declaring, leaving Malagò's confirmed bloc at 48% against the 50%+ threshold required.
Lega Pro encompasses over 60 clubs spread across Italy's three Serie C groups, making it numerically the largest professional league body in the country, though its financial scale is FAR smaller than Serie A or Lega B. Marani has advocated for greater revenue distribution from UEFA and Serie A downwards through the Italian football pyramid.
In the FIGC governance arithmetic, Lega Pro's 12% is the largest undeclared bloc. If Marani formally delivers it to Malagò before the 13 May candidacy deadline, combined with Lega B's 6%, the Coalition would reach 66% — well above any rival candidate's theoretical ceiling.
