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Italian selection

Final blow: Meloni government defends intervention in the Italian national team.

Bread, circuses, and intervention: Rome's plan to stem the bleeding of national pride.

Gabriele Gravina: President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The government wants him fired.
Gabriele Gravina: President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The government wants him fired.

On this April 1st, a date that seems like a joke but is the pure essence of Roman drama, the government of Giorgia Meloni decided that he will try to fix the FIGC (Italian Football Federation). The Minister of Sport, Andrea Abodi, tired of seeing the Azzurra Watching the World Cup from the couch for the third consecutive time, he decided that the solution to the debacle against Bosnia is not more training or good players, but state intervention.

The request comes after the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup for the third consecutive time. The penalty shootout defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina The European play-offs intensified criticism of Gabriele Gravina's leadership.

Abodi's ultimatum

For the government, remaining in Gabriele Gravina (in power since 2018) is unsustainable. Abodi was categorical in stating that "today is not a normal day" and that the conditions for direct intervention exist. The minister advocates a "general purge" of the leadership to stop the bleeding in Italian football.

Gravina against the wall

Despite popular and governmental pressure, Gravina refuses to resign, pushing the decision to the FIGC Federal Council. An informal meeting this Thursday (2) should gauge the mood among the leaders of Series A, B and C. However, the isolation of the federation president is visible, with players' and coaches' associations beginning to withdraw their support.

The contrast: Olympic success versus failure on the football field.

The request for intervention uses as its argument the absolute success of CONI in other areas:

The thesis: If the CONI management model works for Olympic sports, why is football still managed as a "privileged club" that doesn't deliver results?

Milan-Cortina 2026: Italy has just come off its best performance in the Winter Games (30 medals).

Paris 2024: The best Olympic campaign in history (40 medals).

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