Sawt Falasteen - Italian footballer and coaching bodies join Serie A in backing Malago as new FA chief

"Players and coaches have a shared vision, identifying Giovanni Malago as the person capable of meeting the numerous challenges facing us now and above all in the future," said a statement released by the player (AIC) and coaching (AIAC) associations.

Malago, 67, is firm favourite to succeed Gabriele Gravina, who stepped down earlier in April after the men's national team failed to qualify for a third straight World Cup by losing to Bosnia-Herzegovina in the qualification play-offs.

Coach Gennaro Gattuso and team general manager Gianluigi Buffon also resigned.

The only other candidate is former FIGC president Giancarlo Abete, with May 13 the deadline for nominations.

With the support of Serie A, the AIC and the AIAC, Malago commands 48 percent of the votes ahead of the election which is scheduled for June 22.

Serie A said in a statement that all three bodies backing Malago was "a significant sign of unity and responsibility, in a moment in which Italian football needs vision, stability and renewal".

Italy's amateur football authorities, which control 34 percent of the votes, have not publicly backed either candidate.

Malago was president of the Milan-Cortina organising committee and also head of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), the country's highest sporting body, between 2013 and 2025.

Whoever follows Gravina will not only have to appoint a new national team coach, but also satisfy a long-standing desire for reform within the FIGC and head Italy's part of Euro 2032, which is being co-hosted with Turkey.

UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin recently told the Gazzetta Dello Sport that Italy could lose the tournament due to the condition of the country's football stadiums, which he called "some of the worst in Europe".

G.AbuOdeh--SF-PST