World Cup
Italy federation chief resigns after another World Cup failure
Italian soccer federation (FIGC) president Gabriele Gravina resigned on Thursday, in the wake of the national team’s failure to qualify for a third straight World Cup.
Gravina, in charge of the FIGC since 2018, had been urged by the government to step down after Italy’s defeat on penalties in the playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina on Tuesday.
The federation will hold an extraordinary assembly on June 22 to elect a new chief, while Gravina offered to appear before a parliamentary committee on April 8 “to report on the state of health of Italian soccer”, a statement said.
That hearing has now been cancelled, as the committee awaits the election outcome.
The Italian soccer team last qualified for the World Cup in 2014 and has won only one match at the finals since lifting the trophy for the fourth time in 2006.
Former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, national team delegation head, has also announced his resignation via social media.
Gravina was elected unopposed in October 2018, the 72-year-old replacing Carlo Tavecchio who resigned a week after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
“After many years there is a feeling of great bitterness, but great serenity,” Gravina told reporters.
“I must thank all the federal components who today have shown me great affection, support and closeness today, also insisting that I continue, but my personal choice was made with conviction and careful consideration.”
While Gravina’s term included the Euro 2020 triumph, it also involved another two World Cup qualification failures and his position had become increasingly untenable after much criticism from Italian media and senior political figures.
Italy’s Sports Minister Andrea Abodi described Italy’s latest failure as a “definitive defeat” and suggested that Italian football needs to be “rebuilt from the ground up”.
Gravina spoke immediately after the loss to Bosnia, saying he understood the request for resignation but that there was a suitable place to make evaluations.
That place was the FIGC headquarters in Rome, where Gravina met with the six federal components – Serie A, B and C, National Amateur League, Players’ Association and Coaches Association – and informed them of his decision at the start of the meeting.
Gravina was re-elected in February 2021, and again in February 2025 with his mandate due to end in 2028, but the search now begins for his successor.
Names already being mentioned include 67-year-old former head of Italy’s Olympic Committee (CONI) Giovanni Malago and previous FIGC president Giancarlo Abete. Abete, 75, held the role from 2007 to 2014.
BUFFON BOWS OUT
Buffon, former Italy goalkeeper and part of the 2006 World Cup-winning side, wrote on Instagram that he had initially offered his resignation immediately after the loss to Bosnia, but had been asked to take time to reflect.
“Now that president Gravina has chosen to take a step back, I feel free to do what I feel is an act of responsibility,” Buffon wrote.
“Because, even in the sincere conviction that I have built so much on a spirit and group level with Rino Gattuso and all the collaborators, in a very short time at the disposal of the national team, the main objective was to bring Italy back to the World Cup.
“We didn’t succeed. It’s fair to leave it to those who will come after, the freedom to choose the figure they think is best to play my role.”
SOCIAL MEDIA STORM
Gravina had also come in for heavy criticism for comments he made after the Bosnia defeat, when asked why Italy excelled in other disciplines but not in football.
In his response, Gravina said that football is a professional sport, while the others are amateur, which caused outrage, with many Italian athletes taking to social media.
Irma Testa, the first female boxer to represent Italy at the Olympics and bronze medallist in 2020, wrote on Instagram that ‘we are the real professionals’ and the FIGC statement on Thursday said that Gravina expressed regret over the interpretation of his remarks.
Gravina explained that his comments referred to the presence within some federations of leagues with their own autonomy and the corporate nature of professional clubs which must comply with national and international legislation.
After Gravina and Buffon’s resignations, Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso’s position is also under question, with his contract ending in June. Media reports have linked Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri as possible replacements.
-Reuters
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Veteran Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has hinted that the upcoming FIFA World Cup could mark the final chapter of his illustrious international career after announcing that he has joined what he described as his “last training camp” with the national team.
The 40-year-old shot stopper is widely expected to be named in coach Javier Aguirre’s squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Mexico will co-host alongside the United States and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
In an emotional message posted on social media on Monday, Ochoa reflected on his long journey with the Mexican national team.
“Putting this shirt on again was never routine … it was a privilege,” he wrote. “Today begins my last training camp. But this time I see it differently. With a fuller heart, more scars, more memories, and the same excitement as the child who once dreamed of defending this badge.”
If selected, Ochoa will join an exclusive group of players to feature in six FIFA World Cups, alongside football icons Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The experienced goalkeeper previously represented Mexico at the Germany 2006, South Africa 2010, Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022 World Cups.
Ochoa, who currently plays for AEL Limassol in Cyprus, also recently suggested that the tournament could signal the end of his professional career.
Speaking to Mexican broadcaster TUDN last month, he admitted that the World Cup “could be the end for me after the World Cup” as he prepares for what is expected to be his final season in football.
“I’ve experienced unforgettable nights, endless matches, anthems that still give me goosebumps, and moments that changed my life forever,” Ochoa added in his social media post.
“And still, every time Mexico calls, something inside me begins again.”
Widely regarded as one of Mexico’s greatest goalkeepers, Ochoa has earned more than 150 international caps and produced several memorable World Cup performances during his career.
Among his standout moments were a remarkable display against Brazil at the 2014 World Cup and his penalty save from Poland captain Robert Lewandowski during the Qatar 2022 tournament.
Mexico will continue their preparations for the World Cup with friendly matches against Ghana on May 22, Australia on May 30 and Serbia on June 4 before opening their Group A campaign against South Africa on June 11.
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Mexico’s education authorities agreed on Monday to keep the 2025-2026 school calendar unchanged, reversing a proposed early end to the academic year that had drawn criticism from parents and raised questions about disruptions linked to the World Cup.
Related Story: https://sportsvillagesquare.com/2026/05/09/mexico-president-wavers-on-plan-to-cut-school-year-by-40-days-for-the-world-cup/
The federal education ministry and state authorities unanimously agreed to preserve the existing 185-day school calendar, Education Minister Mario Delgado said, meaning the school year will still end on July 15 as originally scheduled.
Delgado said the agreement came in response to a call from President Claudia Sheinbaum, while also giving certainty to millions of Mexican families that organise their daily routines around the school calendar.
Authorities said states could still make local adjustments in extraordinary circumstances, including extreme heat or logistical challenges related to the World Cup.
Delgado had previously floated ending the school year on June 5 instead of July 15, citing high temperatures and the need to ease pressure in host cities during the tournament, which Mexico will co-host with the United States and Canada.
-Reuters
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Thousands of people, led by mothers of those who have disappeared during decades of drug violence, marched in Mexico’s capital on Sunday, protesting the violence and impunity plaguing the country as it prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup.
Collectives of mothers of the missing, who march every Mother’s Day, called on soccer fans to join them, saying in a statement that “there is nothing to celebrate, because the mothers of Mexico are playing the most difficult match: the one for justice.”
“Mexico, champion in disappearances,” protesters chanted as they marched down Paseo de la Reforma, the signature boulevard in Mexico City, holding banners and signs emblazoned with pictures of missing people. They passed a roundabout surrounded by metal barriers that are permanently covered with pictures of the disappeared.
“We had to start fighting, because no one wanted to take charge of the disappearance (case),” said Graciela Perez Rodriguez, whose daughter and four other relatives disappeared in 2012 in the northern state of Tamaulipas as they travelled on a highway after a trip to the U.S.
Mexico has more than 130,000 missing people, with disappearances surging after 2006, when the country launched its war on drug cartels.
Police and other government officials are often implicated in the crimes. Mothers who search for their missing children themselves when authorities fail to act are sometimes also targeted by criminal groups and killed.
In March, Mexican authorities said they had potentially identified more than 40,000 people listed as disappeared who may be alive, after a review of the national registry of missing persons showed some activity across other government records.
But the public policy group Mexico Evalua found there has been a 200% increase in disappearances over the last decade, due to the growing power of organised crime groups.
Rodriguez said she worries that the case of her missing family members is no longer a priority since almost 14 years have passed.
-Reuters
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