The president of the Federation has weathered many storms, but now, after the defeat against Bosnia, he is in the midst of the storm. The confrontation with the Federal Council will be decisive
This time it risks breaking. Italy bids farewell to the World Cup for the third time in a row and he, Gabriele Gravina, who once – after responding as best he could to yet another sequence of obstacles – had said: “I am a rush and I can hardly break”, is now in the midst of the most ferocious storm. He takes his time, he needs to reflect and above all to discuss with the Federal Council, but many are now expecting a step backwards. The FIGC president has never allowed anyone to decide for him, and this is a credit, but today, when disappointment is so powerful, one wonders if he has the strength to carry on. In the days, or rather in the months, that preceded these cursed playoffs, Gravina had given no hint of his intentions and some well-measured sentences had left a certain margin for manoeuvre. Like when, at the end of November, he said: “If the fate of the FIGC is linked to that of the national team? There is no rule on this, within us there is a principle of democracy, I received 98% of the preferences”. However, adding: “Then there are some reflections to be made, linked to choices of responsibility and of a personal nature”.
reflections
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The choice is therefore his. The discussion with the Federal Council will be fundamental: it goes without saying that at the moment he enjoys the trust of practically everyone, so thinking of a no-confidence vote is very difficult at the moment, even if nothing is impossible. Even the hypothesis of a commissioner, with the CONI Statute in hand, is less viable than it seems. Politics could do something, but, as we said, on this front Gravina has always claimed the autonomy of sport. Two years ago, after the disappointing European Championship with Spalletti, he said: “There are criticisms that hurt, the instrumental ones linked to a request for resignation. There is no way that anyone can govern our world from the outside, this applies to politics and to everyone else, in asking for the resignation of both Gravina and Spalletti. It doesn’t exist. I face the problems with work, I don’t run away from the responsibilities that concern me. I keep the political difficulties separate from the technical ones and the game in which the triumphant of sobs delight in, I am not interested in. It calls for a sense of clarity, that is, not to put into practice acts that cause damage greater than what exists now”.
ceferin support
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He had recently started his football reform, which has now taken a rather solid shape, but the choice to move forward with Spalletti today more than ever appears to be the wrong one. As for the “damages greater than those that exist now”, someone might think of the European Championships that Italy is preparing to host in 2032. Ceferin is on his side, it is no coincidence that he was at the stadium this evening, and having the support of the president of UEFA, in certain circumstances, never hurts. Even four years ago, after North Macedonia and our second world exclusion, Gravina was very firm: “I still have a lot of energy. Is the project going ahead? Absolutely yes. I know that they will be days in which every attempt will be made to destabilize us. The criticisms are part of the other side of the coin: as we rejoiced this summer, now I am ready to receive a lot of criticism. There are no glimmers of hope in the federal world, I must continue to protect this national team. We move forward with our heads held high, aware that when wins there is some mistake.” A handful of months had passed since Mancini won the European Championship, but he would soon turn his back on him.
beyond the storm
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From 2018 to today, the Gravina rush has withstood every storm: sporting, economic (it was not at all easy to emerge alive from the crisis due to Covid) and even judicial (the proceedings in which it is under investigation on charges of self-laundering for the “Ancient books” affair are still underway in Sulmona). Each time he came back stronger. He grew, he prospered in spite of his bitterest enemies. But what happened tonight in Zenica is a very heavy boulder. The country is exhausted, angry. Will it still resist?
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