Giovanni Malagò remains interim head of Italian football federation

A compromise reached on Tuesday will see Giovanni Malagò continue as the emergency commissioner of the Italian football federation despite an irregularity in his election earlier this year.

Malagò was stripped of the presidency after it emerged that he was not registered as a member of the federation at the time of the June vote. In the last‑minute meeting between Malagò and Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) president Luciano Buonfiglio, just before CONI’s vote, he was appointed as the federation’s interim emergency commissioner pending a new election.

In the original election, Malagò secured 68.58 % of the votes, defeating former federation president Giancarlo Abete, who received 29.17 %. The vote was intended to replace Gabriele Gravina, who resigned after Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

A fresh election is expected in January, with Malagò likely to stand again. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin warned that removing Malagò could be seen as political interference.

Malagò, a former head of the Italian Olympic Committee and the Milan‑Cortina 2026 organising committee, also inherits the challenge of preparing Italy’s share of the 2032 European Championship, for which the federation has submitted a list of 14 stadiums in 13 cities, though only Juventus’ Allianz Stadium in Turin is currently ready.

Source: ABC News. Photo: Lais Queiroz / Pexels.