Italian Football Federation (FIGC) President Carlo Tavecchio resigned on Monday, "a week after the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in 60 years," according to Rossi, Binnie & Scherer of REUTERS. Tavecchio, 74, had been "under pressure to step down after a goalless draw at home to Sweden meant Italy missed out on the World Cup" for the first time since '58. Coach Gian Piero Ventura was sacked last Wednesday. An "angry" Tavecchio said that he resigned because he "lost political support within the FIGC, not because of the team's results on the field." He said, "I didn’t think for an instant. I resigned and I resigned as a political act to the Council, certainly not for sporting reasons. I asked the members of the Federal Council to resign as well and nobody did, they left me on my own." Often referring to himself in the third person, he said that he had been the "victim of persecution by the media." He said, "The only thing missing was Tavecchio on the cross." He also said that Italy's elimination had "affected him personally as an ordinary fan." Tavecchio: "Carlo Tavecchio was very upset, but not as the head of the soccer federation, but as Carlo Tavecchio." He added that it had not been his decision to appoint Ventura, a "journeyman coach" who had never coached AC Milan, Inter Milan or Juventus "nor won a major title at club level." He said, "Now, everyone knows that I wasn't the one who chose Ventura. (But) Tavecchio pays because of Ventura" (REUTERS, 11/20).
TAKING CHARGE: FOOTBALL ITALIA reported Italian Olympic Committee President Giovanni Malago said that he "has a mandate to take interim charge of the FIGC." Tavecchio insisted that he "would continue for another 90 days," although Malago "asserted the rules stated otherwise." Malago: "There is a willingness to take charge the Federcalcio, as the rules state. For me, it's the only solution. The facts are clear and objective. If there had been a Federal Council that was compact and strong, there could be other solutions" (FOOTBALL ITALIA, 11/20).
