Italy's crisis deepens: Buffon joins the wave of resignations | OneFootball

The Azzurra once again missed out on a World Cup, and an institutional crisis erupted: Gravina and Buffon resigned after the defeat to Bosnia.

The earthquake in Italian football is already having major consequences. After Italy’s elimination in the World Cup playoff, Gabriele Gravina submitted his resignation as president of the Italian Football Federation. He was also joined by Gianluigi Buffon, who had been serving as the national team’s head of delegation.

The decision comes after the tough defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which left the Azzurra out of the World Cup for the third straight time. The blow was even harder considering that the next tournament will feature 48 teams, making qualification more accessible. However, the team failed again at the key moment and sparked deep frustration across the country.

Gravina announced his resignation at a meeting held at the federation’s headquarters in Rome, where he confirmed that he was stepping aside after the pressure generated by the latest sporting failure. His tenure, which began in 2018, was marked by this negative cycle for the national team, which has been unable to recover since missing Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022.

Minutes later, Buffon’s departure was also confirmed. The 2006 World Cup champion had taken on his executive role in August 2023. The exit of the legendary former goalkeeper further deepens the institutional crisis affecting Italian football.

In this context, the departure of coach Gennaro Gattuso is also expected, which would complete the dismantling of the national team’s current structure. Now, all eyes are on June 22, the date on which elections will be held to choose the federation’s new president and begin an urgent restructuring

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.