Giovanni Malagò won't be going anywhere just yet. Despite being stripped of the Italian football federation presidency over an election irregularity, a last-minute deal struck with CONI president Luciano Buonfiglio has kept him in the building — this time as emergency commissioner on an interim basis, pending a fresh election expected in January.
The irregularity itself is almost comically avoidable: Malagò wasn't even registered as a member of the federation at the time of his June election. He'd still won with 68.58% of the vote, comfortably clearing former federation president Giancarlo Abete's 29.17%. The result didn't matter. The paperwork did.
A federation that can't afford more chaos
The timing could hardly be worse. Malagò inherited a federation already on its knees — Italy has now failed to qualify for two consecutive World Cups under his predecessor Gabriele Gravina, who resigned in the fallout. Roberto Mancini has returned as coach and shown some signs of life in the Nations League, but this is an organisation that needs stability, not another leadership crisis playing out in committee rooms.
Then there's Euro 2032. Italy is co-hosting with Turkey, and last week the federation submitted a list of 14 potential host stadiums across 13 cities to UEFA. Only one — Juventus' Allianz Stadium in Turin — is ready. One. Out of fourteen. Anyone pricing Italian football's organisational efficiency into their long-term thinking should adjust accordingly.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin had already weighed in, warning Italian authorities against political interference if Malagò was removed. That kind of external pressure rarely lands without effect, and it likely hardened the case for compromise.
What comes next
Malagò is expected to run again in January. Whether the federation can get its house in order before then — or whether this emergency arrangement just delays the same fight — is the real question. The Italian football federation has bigger problems than who sits at the head of the table. Right now it has 13 stadiums that aren't ready and a national team that hasn't been to a World Cup since 2014.
One election fix won't change either of those facts.
