Giovanni Malagò, president of CONI (the Italian Olympic Committee), met Lega B on 6 May and Lega Pro on 8 May by videoconference, the two professional divisions whose combined 18% of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC, the national governing body for the game in Italy) assembly vote would push him past 50% before any ballot is cast. Both leagues signalled support, yet neither has formally declared. On 10 May, Malagò told LaPresse he was "getting ready" with the "formal and bureaucratic aspects" sorted, and hoped stakeholders would offer views before the 13 May declaration deadline for the 22 June FIGC Federal Council vote.1 He has not himself filed.
The arithmetic he is closing on: Serie A 18%, the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC, the union for professional players) 20%, the Italian Coaches' Association (AIAC, the union for managers and trainers) 10%. Total confirmed bloc 48%. Lega B adds 6%, Lega Pro 12%. If both confirm in the next two days, the 22 June Federal Council vote becomes ceremonial. Two videoconferences in three days, no press, no debate, yet a fifth of the FIGC assembly has effectively moved. Giancarlo Abete, the former FIGC president, has confirmed he will file regardless on the 34% Lega Dilettanti bloc and is contesting the same swing votes Malagò is now trying to lock down.
The sequencing matters because Malagò's pitch rests on parliamentary access. Three reforms he has signalled, the reinstatement of the Growth Decree, the repeal of the 2018 gambling sponsorship ban, and a 1.0% betting turnover levy, all require legislative votes. The clubs that chose him want a federation president who can move a bill, not a former player whose authority is sentimental. The government's preferred Maldini or Del Piero candidacies ran into the institutional reality that the next president will inherit Italian football's €5.5bn debt position and three reform proposals already written into the parliamentary record by Gabriele Gravina.
