Gravina Faces Fallout After Italy’s Third Consecutive World Cup Failure
gravina is at the center of an escalating crisis after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time, a sequence that has intensified calls for leadership change. The FIGC president told reporters he has convened a federal council to evaluate political decisions, while publicly praising coach Rino Gattuso and urging calm within the squad. The result has reopened debates about responsibility at the top of Italian football and what the federation will decide next.
Gravina: council will weigh resignations and protect the technical staff
Gabriele Gravina, President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), addressed the aftermath with two clear lines: defend the technical group and submit political questions to the federation’s governing body. Gravina stated that coach Rino Gattuso had earned his compliments and that he had asked Gattuso to remain with the team, and he invoked the FIGC’s internal procedures for any evaluation of resignations.
Gravina said, “I must compliment Rino Gattuso, I believe he was a great coach. I asked him to remain in charge of these players, as I asked Buffon to stay; there was a moment of harmony in the dressing room with these players. ” He added, “Resignations? The federal council will evaluate it, ” stressing that such political decisions belong within the federation’s formal seat of judgment. In earlier remarks he had described himself as resilient—”I am like a reed, I rarely break”—signaling reluctance to make an immediate, unilateral exit.
Team reaction and political pressures inside and outside the federation
The immediate focus is split: preserve the coaching staff’s technical work while managing a powerful public backlash. Gravina highlighted the players’ commitment, calling them “heroic, ” and warned against outside interference in federation governance. The presence at the stadium of Aleksander Ceferin, President of UEFA, was noted in commentary as a political element that may factor into broader strategic considerations, including long-term projects the FIGC has been pursuing.
Criticism has been fierce in public commentary, with arguments that in different circumstances a change of leadership would be expected. At the same time, FIGC insiders emphasize the federation’s democratic rules and the role of the federal council in deciding whether any act of political responsibility is required. Gravina has repeatedly framed his mandate as bound to those internal norms and has reminded observers of the reform work underway inside the federation.
What’s next: a council meeting to set the institutional roadmap
For now the matter is routed to the FIGC’s federal council, which Gravina has convened to deliberate. The president has signaled he will not preempt the council’s role and that political choices—resignation or other measures—must be weighed within the federation’s institutional processes. Stakeholders will watch the council’s session for decisions on governance, protection of the technical staff, and how to proceed with the federation’s reform agenda.
The coming days will determine whether the federation sustains its current leadership or opts for change; gravina has placed that choice in the hands of the FIGC council and tied his next moves to its deliberations, leaving the future of Italy’s football leadership to a formal internal verdict.
