The elimination of theItalia a Euro 2024 remains an open wound for the Italian football movement. Not even the joint press conference of the president of the FIGC Gabriel Gravina and of the coach Luciano Spallettithe day after the defeat against Switzerland with the reassurance (“We have a three-year project ahead of us”), managed to calm the criticism towards the federal leaders, technical staff and players.
It was not a defeat like the others but a total defeat. The Minister of Sport does not mince his words Andrea Abodi which, analyzing the elimination of the Azzurri, speaks of “moral surrender”. According to Abodi, in fact, “there was no reaction, there was no flash of those that you see especially in difficult moments.” The minister also said “surprised” from the “search for responsibility of others”with a not-so-veiled reference to coach Spalletti and president Gravina.
Intervened at “Non-Stop News” On RTL, Abodi spoke at length about the failure of the Italian expedition and above all about the fact that no one seems to want to take responsibility of what happened. “The game is over now, we’re back home, but the thing that surprised me is the search for responsibility on the part of others. I think that when faced with defeat, the first factor that must emerge is self-criticism and starting from there. It’s too easy to look at the responsibility of others. Once again, sport teaches us to take responsibility directly and not to transfer it”he said.
The minister then spoke about the players and a sort of moral question.“The players who go on the pitch know this perfectly well, I can’t imagine that they didn’t have the ability to rewind the tape, review the game and understand where they went wrong. Moreover, these are not individual and tactical errors, the national team seemed to be morally absent. This must stir up reflections, so that there can be a full stop”has explained.
What happens now?
After the disappointment of Euro 2024, the Football Federation is preparing to choose shortly who will take over the reins of Italian football for the next appointments. The president of Gravina has called the Federal Elective Assembly on Monday 4 November 2024 at the Hilton Rome Airport Hotel in Fiumicino. The meeting’s agenda will also include the election of the federal president. According to what has been learned, Gravina should run again, but at the moment there is still no official confirmation.
While waiting for certainty on who will come forward to try to bring about a change in Italian football, the countdown for the upcoming federal elections.
An appointment to understand which direction Italian football will take to face the serious crisis of results and the structural problems related to the senior national team. Go ahead with Gravina or change at the top? The time for a turning point seems to have arrived.
