Claudio Lotito has taken the remarkable step of launching a petition in the Italian Senate calling for FIGC president Gabriele Gravina to resign, in the fallout from Italy’s devastating World Cup playoff final defeat to Bosnia on penalties.
According to TuttoMercatoWeb, (via Football Italia), the Lazio president and Forza Italia senator is using his political platform to pile pressure on Gravina, who has so far given no indication that he intends to step down despite overseeing a third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Italy drew 1-1 after 90 minutes in Zenica, with Alessandro Bastoni’s red card in the first half leaving the Azzurri with ten men for the vast majority of the match. No goals in extra time saw the tie go to penalties, where Italy were ultimately eliminated.
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The political pressure on Gravina is now considerable.
The Sports Minister has already publicly called on him to resign, and the FIGC president has convened an emergency meeting for tomorrow afternoon in Rome, bringing together representatives from Serie A, Serie B, Serie C, the amateur leagues, coaches’ and players’ associations, to assess the situation ahead of a full Federal Council meeting next week.
The mood outside FIGC headquarters has turned hostile, with protesters pelting the building with eggs following last night’s result.
