Italian Minister for Sport, Andrea Abodi, has publicly addressed comments made by the departing President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina. Gravina had suggested that the government did not provide adequate support to the football association. Abodi, in turn, stated that political factors are often cited as the reason when things go wrong.
Gravina announced his resignation as FIGC President following Italy’s failure to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive tournament, a defeat that occurred in the play-off final against Bosnia and Herzegovina in late March. This departure also saw the exit of head coach Gennaro Gattuso and delegation chief Gianluigi Buffon.
Gravina will continue to oversee basic administrative tasks at the FIGC until a new President is elected on June 22nd. Since confirming his resignation, he has published a report outlining persistent challenges within Italian football and the national team structure.
In his report, Gravina highlighted several well-documented issues, including the low number of Italian players regularly featuring in Serie A, insufficient investment in football infrastructure, and an imbalance in the debate between tactical approaches and technical ability. He attributed Italy’s international struggles partly to a lack of financial support from the government.
In a separate interview with Corriere della Sera, Gravina also mentioned exploring incentives for Italian youth academies to increase the number of homegrown talents in Serie A. He claimed that the government had been restrictive in this area.
Responding to Gravina’s recent statements at the Luiss Sport Forum in Rome, Minister Abodi expressed his views. “I’ve learned that politics is always referred to in certain cases. When something doesn’t work, it’s always because of politics,” Abodi remarked, seemingly with a touch of sarcasm, according to TMW.
“I’ve never blamed anyone else. When you want to find a solution for the common good, you have to sit around the table with all relevant parties and make those decisions that have not been made in recent years, despite broad consensus,” Abodi continued.
“To me, it doesn’t seem like we need to ‘invent’ anything. We have the possible solutions on the table; we just need to evaluate their compatibility together.”
Abodi also added, “I’m fascinated by the things that need to be done. Unfortunately, due to the nature of football, which isn’t always harmonious, many of those things haven’t been accomplished.”
He further commented on Gravina’s previous election results: “The 98.7% of votes that Gravina received in the last election demonstrates that it is not the quantity of the consensus that determines how things go, but the quality of the collaboration between all the parties.”
