By Dansu Peter
Following the abysmal miss of the Azuri of Italy for the 2017 FIFA World cup to be hosted by Russia, Carlo Tavecchio, the president of the Italian FA (FIGC), has resigned.
Italy missed out on qualification for the tournament for the first time in 60 years last week, when they failed to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit in a goalless playoff draw with Sweden at the San Siro.
Head coach Gian Piero Ventura reluctantly departed on Wednesday, two days after Italy’s exit, but Tavecchio appeared intent on remaining at the helm of the FIGC, a job he first took in 2014 and was re-elected to in March.
Tavecchio had even begun making plans for Ventura’s successor, hinting that Chelsea boss Antonio Conte was his first-choice to take the Azzurri hot seat.
However the pressure grew intolerable for the 74-year-old, who announced his decision to step down after an FIGC meeting on Monday.
“I’m sorry,” Tavecchio told reporters.
“I’m leaving because I failed. I apologise to all Italians. Now is the time for Italian football to embark on a new era.”
Tavecchio had been keen to lay the blame for Italy’s dismal qualification campaign at the door of Ventura, telling reporters on Sunday: “With a little intelligence, this debacle could’ve been avoided. The Swedish players are very tall and strong, so we should’ve approached them with a different philosophy.
“We played badly. Against players who are all nearly two metres tall, we kept putting in crosses. We should’ve gone around them with the little guys. I thought of correcting him. I thought there are 100,000 Neapolitans in Milan, at least 20,000 would be at the stadium, how can you not play [Napoli forward Lorenzo] Insigne?
“The debacle was technical. The choices made by the coach were wrong. I have to say it.”
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