Italy relief over UEFA warning as FIGC commissioner ruled out
Italy relief over UEFA warning as FIGC commissioner ruled out CONI President Luciano Buonfiglio says he won’t appoint a FIGC commissioner, easing concerns that Italy might lose the right to co-host Euro 2032, while Government sources call for ‘immediate and effective answers. ’ The Italian FA won’t be placed under administration with the appointment of a special commissioner, said CONI President Buonfiglio on Tuesday. CONI, the Italian National Olympic Committee, is the body entitled to appoint a commissioner in serious cases.
However, Buonfiglio stated that he would not take this action. “Neither the right nor the left wing influences me. I was elected to enforce the rules, and the first person who must abide by them is myself,” he told reporters on Tuesday, via Gazzetta.
“When the conditions were in place for appointing a commissioner, I did so. Today, they are not. I am proud to be the CONI President and honoured to represent all sporting bodies.
At the same time, while I represent and support them, I must also oversee them, but that does not mean I have to act like a sheriff. ” Football in Italy needs ‘effective answers and reforms’ FIGC President Gabriele Gravina stepped down following Italy’s World Cup play-off elimination, calling elections for June 22. The emergence of a new refereeing scandal in Italy had raised the possibility that CONI could appoint a FIGC commissioner, a scenario strongly opposed by UEFA.
ZENICA, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – MARCH 31: (L-R) Italy Minister of Sport Andrea Abodi, President of CONI Luciano Buonfiglio and President of FIGC Gabriele Gravina look on prior the FIFA World Cup 2026 European Qualifiers KO play-offs match between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Italy at Stadion Bilino Polje on March 31, 2026 in Zenica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Photo by Getty Images/Getty Images) According to Italian sources, UEFA even threatened to exclude Italy from co-hosting Euro 2032 and could have gone so far as to ban Serie A clubs from European competitions if a FIGC commissioner were appointed. “We need to stop saying that politics wants to get its hand on football,” Italian Government sources told AGI.