De Laurentiis: Abete ‘not a good fit’ for FIGC President role, Malagò has just one ‘flaw’ | OneFootball

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis insists Giovanni Malagò is the most-suited candidate to become the FIGC President and ‘rebuild’ Italian football, while Giancarlo Abete ‘is a dear friend, but is not a good fit.’

Malagò and Abete are expected to be the only two candidates at the FIGC Presidential election taking place on June 22, 2026.

Malagò, a former CONI President, is the candidate picked by Lega Serie A, and today representatives of clubs in Italy’s top flight will meet the 67-year-old to outline their project.

Abete, on the other hand, already served as the FIGC President from 2007 to 2014 and is backed by Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (LND), which accounts for 34% of the vote, compared to Serie A’s 18%.

Any candidate, however, needs to secure 51% of the vote to be elected, so Malagò and Abete need to win over other members of the voting panel to win the election.

Napoli President De Laurentiis once again backed Malagò just before the beginning of the Lega Serie A meeting in Milan today.

NAPLES, ITALY – DECEMBER 12: Aurelio De Laurentiis SSC Napoli President during the UEFA Champions League match between SCC Napoli and SC Braga at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on December 12, 2023 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro/Getty Images)

“I called Malagò, telling him to take charge of the situation because no one can do this better than him,” De Laurentiis said via TMW.

“He’s an entrepreneur and a sportsman with plenty of experience. The only flaw is that he’s in love with Roma, but we’ll put up with that, too,” he added, smiling.

“We are tired of being led by people who have institutional roles just for personal prestige. The most important thing in life is to work, but to do that, you need knowledge. Nobody more than an entrepreneur who does business can fix things that don’t work. From my perspective, Mr Malagò is welcome.

ROME, ITALY – DECEMBER 01: Giancarlo Abete President of LND poses during the FIGC DCPS press conference at Europa Experience on December 01, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno/Getty Images)

“Abete is a dear friend and a person I truly respect. His brother is a business partner in one of my companies, but he’s not a good fit for this job,” De Laurentiis continued.

“Perhaps, he’ll be upset, but we are accustomed to expressing our thoughts in a democracy, even if Italians, by nature, are cowards.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY – MARCH 15: Giovanni Malago, President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 delivers a speech during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games closing ceremony at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on March 15, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot/Getty Images)

“We wait for Malagò and hope his ideas match ours. Football in Italy has to be rebuilt. They say I’m a visionary, but I came from the world of cinema in 2004, and I’ve been annoyingly saying since then that everything’s old and that kids wouldn’t watch matches anymore. But nobody is there to listen because everyone is just thinking about their seats.”