ROME, April 2 (Reuters) - Italian soccer federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina resigned on Thursday, in the wake of the national team's failure to qualify for a third straight World Cup.
Gravina, in charge of the FIGC since 2018, had been urged by the government to step down after Italy's defeat on penalties in the playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday.
The federation will hold an extraordinary assembly on June 22 to elect a new chief, while Gravina offered to appear before a parliamentary committee on April 8 "to report on the state of health of Italian soccer", a statement said.
The Italian soccer team last qualified for the World Cup in 2014 and has won only one match at the finals since lifting the trophy for the fourth time in 2006.
Former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, national team delegation head, has also announced his resignation via social media.
Gravina was elected unopposed in October 2018, the 72-year-old replacing Carlo Tavecchio who resigned a week after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
While Gravina's term included the Euro 2020 triumph, it also involved another two World Cup qualification failures and his position had become increasingly untenable after much criticism from Italian media and senior political figures.
Italy's Sports Minister Andrea Abodi described Italy's latest failure as a "definitive defeat" and suggested that Italian football needs to be "rebuilt from the ground up".
Gravina spoke immediately after the loss to Bosnia, saying he understood the request for resignation but that there was a suitable place to make evaluations.
That place was the FIGC headquarters in Rome, where Gravina met with the six federal components - Serie A, B and C, National Amateur League, Players' Association and Coaches Association - and informed them of his decision at the start of the meeting.
Gravina was re-elected in February 2021, and again in February 2025 with his mandate due to end in 2028, but the search now begins for his successor.
Names already being mentioned include 67-year-old former head of Italy's Olympic Committee (CONI) Giovanni Malago and previous FIGC president Giancarlo Abete. Abete, 75, held the role from 2007 to 2014.
BUFFON BOWS OUT
Buffon, former Italy goalkeeper and part of the 2006 World Cup-winning side, wrote on Instagram that he had initially offered his resignation immediately after the loss to Bosnia, but had been asked to take time to reflect.
"Now that president Gravina has chosen to take a step back, I feel free to do what I feel is an act of responsibility," Buffon wrote.
"Because, even in the sincere conviction that I have built so much on a spirit and group level with Rino Gattuso and all the collaborators, in a very short time at the disposal of the national team, the main objective was to bring Italy back to the World Cup.
"We didn't succeed. It's fair to leave it to those who will come after, the freedom to choose the figure they think is best to play my role."
SOCIAL MEDIA STORM
Gravina had also come in for heavy criticism for comments he made after the Bosnia defeat, when asked why Italy excelled in other disciplines but not in football.
In his response, Gravina said that football is a professional sport, while the others are amateur, which caused outrage, with many Italian athletes taking to social media.
Irma Testa, the first female boxer to represent Italy at the Olympics and bronze medallist in 2020, wrote on Instagram that 'we are the real professionals' and the FIGC statement on Thursday said that Gravina expressed regret over the interpretation of his remarks.
Gravina explained that his comments referred to the presence within some federations of leagues with their own autonomy and the corporate nature of professional clubs which must comply with national and international legislation.
After Gravina and Buffon's resignations, Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso's position is also under question, with his contract ending in June. Media reports have linked Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri as possible replacements.
(Reporting by Roberto Mignucci, Alvise Armellini and Trevor Stynes, editing by Gavin Jones and Christian Radnedge)
