Italian football risks having to start from scratch. The reason? His number one must defend himself from the accusation of not having met the requirements to run and his successor Buonfiglio will decide.
This time the match that the new president of the FIGC, Giovanni Malagòis facing is one in which a draw is not expected. His future is in the hands of CONI which has been his home for many years but today is not particularly favorable to him: will he stay or should he leave? A story that starts from the long season of poisons that accompanied his rise to the role of number one of the Football Federation after the tsunami of failure to qualify for the World Cup and which, papers and regulations in hand, risks plunging Italian football back into chaos.
The General Prosecutor’s Office of Coni itself, by signature of its boss Sergio Taucer, has in fact decided not to accept the proposal to dismiss the appeal presented against Malagò by the lawyer and former footballer Renato Miele, a candidate rejected due to lack of requirements. The crux of the issue is Malagò’s failure to register with the FIGC: he is not a member and was not one at the time of his candidacy. Therefore, according to the applicant, he could not run for the role of president.
An appeal not admissible according to the chief prosecutor of the FIGC, Giuseppe Chinè. The reason? Malagò’s lack of affiliation to the federation is true and indisputable but this, according to the rules and the statute, does not represent a sine qua non condition but, quibbling over the writing of the law, simply a prescription (being in compliance with all obligations) applicable to anyone in possession of it.
Hence the dismissal proposal which would have closed everything and which the CONI General Prosecutor’s Office rejected, requesting further information. The issue will end up in the council and will be in the hands of president Luciano Buonfiglio with potentially explosive consequences for Italian football. Because whether or not to refer Malagò remains the prerogative of the FIGC Prosecutor’s Office, but the CONI could find in the condition of presumed non-eligibility of the president of the Football Federation the leverage to place the FIGC under commissionership, which is what politicians asked Buonfiglio for months in the spring without there being the possibility of doing so.
If Malagò were to be declared forfeited and the FIGC placed under administration, however, the consequences would also be practical starting from the one that most interests millions of fans. In fact, the Statute provides for the nullity of all documents signed by a president who could not be elected and among these there is the appointment of Roberto Mancini as technical commissioner of the national team with a contract until 2030 and the call of Claudio Ranieri as technical director and president of Club Italia. In addition to further choices on the staff who have already been working in Coverciano for over a month.
A major mess that casts shadows on the restart after the shock of the third consecutive World Cup watched on television. At the end of September Mancini is called to open the new cycle with four very tough Nations League matches which should not be underestimated due to the impact they could have on the Fifa ranking, as well as on the depressed morale of the Azzurri world. The coach is also examining the calls of young people with dual passports who are shining in Serie A and abroad, so as not to miss out on potential blue-chip talents. If Malagò falls, everything goes to zero.
In the background the unhidden stomach aches of Serie A for the first weeks of work of the man nominated almost unanimously for president of the clubs themselves. From the management of the choice of the coach, to the call of Diana Bianchedi as head of the national delegation to the withdrawal of confidence in Infantino in view of the vote in March 2027, many in the League think that Malagò has forgotten the promised collegiality. Finding him weakened now could in turn open a new front.
