Italian Football Federation

Italian Football Federation

UEFA
Founded	26 March 1898 (1898-03-26)
Headquarters	Rome
FIFA affiliation	1905
UEFA affiliation	1954
President	Gabriele Gravina
Website	figc.it

The Italian Football Federation (Italian: Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, pronounced [federatˈtsjoːne itaˈljaːna ˈdʒwɔːko ˈkaltʃo]; FIGC [ˌfiddʒitˈtʃi]), known colloquially as Federcalcio (pronounced [federˈkaltʃo]), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence.

It manages and coordinates the Italian football league system. It is also responsible for appointing the management of the Italy national football team (men's), women's, and youth national football teams. The Italy national futsal team also belongs to the federation.

History

The Federation was established in Turin on 26 March 1898 as the Federazione Italiana del Football (FIF), on the initiative of a Constituent Assembly established on 15 March by Enrico D'Ovidio. Mario Vicary was elected the first official president of the FIF on 26 March.

When, in 1909, it was suggested to change the Federation's name at an annual board elections held in Milan, the few teams attending, representing less than 50% of the active clubs, decided to send a postcard asking all teams to vote for the five new names discussed during the meeting. The new name approved was "Federazione Italiana Giuoco del Calcio" (FIGC), and since then has been the name of the Italian Football Federation. The debut of the Men's National Team was on 15 May 1910, at Arena Civica, wearing a white jersey where Italy defeated France 6–2. The following year, the blue jersey was introduced on the occasion of the match against Hungary as a tribute to the colour of the House of Savoy.

This Italian Federation was an amateur federation respecting FIFA rules when it became a member in 1905. At the end of World War I, the federation had seen impressive development and several footballers were judged to be professional players and banned according to FIFA agreements. From 1922 to 1926, new and more severe rules were approved for keeping the "amateur" status real and effective, such as footballers' residence and transfer controls but the best players were secretly paid and moved from other provinces illegally. Foreigners had to live in the country to get a residence visa and a players' card. When, in 1926, the Italian Federation Board resigned following a very difficult referees' strike, the fascist Lando Ferretti, president of the Italian Olympic Committee (C.O.N.I.), nominated a Commission to reform all Leagues and federal rules. The Commission signed a document called the Carta di Viareggio (Rules issued in Viareggio) where football players were recognised as "non-amateurs" and able to apply for refunds for the money they had lost while playing for the football teams. They had to sign the declaration not being professional players so that FIFA rules were respected because for FIGC; they were appearing as "amateurs" receiving just refunds. It was the beginning of professionalism in Italy. The Carta di Viareggio reduced the number of foreign players to just one per match so that the majority of Hungarians remained jobless and returned to their country.

Commissioner Bruno Zauli led the FIGC renovation process (1959), with the establishment of three Leagues (Professional, Semi-professional, Amateur) and the creation of the Technical and Youth Sectors.

Between 1964 and 1980, foreign players were banned from the Italian league, primarily to revive the national team.

In December 1998, the FIGC celebrated its centenary at the Stadio Olimpico in a match featuring Italy vs World XI, with Italy winning 6–2.

The FIGC was placed in administration in May 2006 as a result of the 2006 Italian football scandal and was put under the management of Guido Rossi. In May 2006, Rossi was chosen and accepted the role of president of Telecom Italia. This appointment caused angry reactions from club presidents in Italy. On 19 September, Rossi resigned as Commissioner of FIGC. On 21 September, Luca Pancalli, head of the Italian Paralympic Committee, was chosen to replace Rossi. On 2 April 2007, a new President was elected, with former Vice-President Giancarlo Abete being voted by 264 grand electors out of 271.

Following the 2014 FIFA World Cup Abete resigned and Carlo Tavecchio was elected president of the Federation and Michele Uva as general manager. The new governance began many reforms on the main aspects of Italian football, particularly through the use of young players trained in Italy, the economic sustainability - financial professional clubs, start the reorganization of the operating structure of the FIGC. In support of the activity and with a view of maximum transparency, the FIGC public a series of documents: Football Report, Integrated Budget (evolution of the Social Report), Management Report, Income Statement of Italian football. On 20 November 2017, Tavecchio resigned as Italian Football Federation president, seven days after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the first time since 1958.

Honours

National teams

Men FIFA World Cup Winner (4): 1934, 1938, 1982, 2006 Runner-up (2): 1970, 1994 Third place (1): 1990 Fourth place (1): 1978 UEFA European Championship Winner (2): 1968, 2020 Runner-up (2): 2000, 2012 Fourth place (1): 1980 UEFA Nations League Third place (2): 2020–21, 2022–23 FIFA Confederations Cup Third place (1): 2013 CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions Runner-up (1): 2022 Olympic football tournament Gold Medal (1): 1936 Bronze Medal (2): 1928, 2004 Central European International Cup Winner (2): 1927–30, 1933–35 Runner-up (2): 1931–32, 1936–38

Women UEFA Women's Championship Runner-up (2): 1993, 1997 Semi Final (1): 1984 Third place (1): 1987 Fourth place (2): 1989, 1991

National youth teams

Men FIFA U-20 World Cup Runner-up (1): 2023 Third place (1): 2017 Fourth place (1): 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup Fourth place (1): 1987 UEFA U-21 Championship Winner (5): 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000, 2004 Runner-up (2): 1986, 2013 UEFA U-19/18 Championship (U-19 since 2002) Winner (4): 1958, 1966, 2003, 2023 Runner-up (7): 1959, 1986, 1995, 1999, 2008, 2016, 2018 UEFA U-17/16 Championship (U-17 since 2002) Winner (2): 1982, 2024 Runner-up (6): 1986, 1993, 1998, 2013, 2018, 2019

National futsal team

Men FIFA Futsal World Cup Runner-up (1): 2004 Third place (2): 2008, 2012 UEFA Futsal Championship Winner (2): 2003, 2014 Runner-up (1): 2007 Third place (3): 1999, 2005, 2012 Fourth place (2): 1996, 2001

List of presidents

No.	Name	Tenure
1	Mario Vicarj	1898–1905
2	Giovanni Silvestri	1905–1907
3	Emilio Balbiano di Belgioioso	1907–1909
4	Luigi Bosisio	1909–1910
5	Felice Radice	1910–1911
6	Emilio Valvassori	1911
7	Alfonso Ferrero de Gubernatis Ventimiglia	1911–1912
8	Vittorio Rignon	1912–1913
9	Luigi De Rossi	1913–1914
10	Carlo Montù	1914–1915
11	Francesco Mauro	1915–1919
12	Carlo Montù	1919–1920
13	Francesco Mauro	1920
14	Luigi Bozino	1920–1921
15	Giovanni Lombardi	1922–1923
16	Luigi Bozino	1923–1924
	Directory	1924
17	Luigi Bozino	1924–1926
18	Leandro Arpinati	1926–1933
19	Giorgio Vaccaro	1933–1942
20	Luigi Ridolfi Vay da Verrazzano	1942–1943
20	Giovanni Mauro	1943
	Directory	1943–1944
21	Fulvio Bernardini	1944
23	Ottorino Barassi	1944–1958
24	Bruno Zauli	1958–1959
25	Umberto Agnelli	1959–1961
26	Giuseppe Pasquale	1961–1967
27	Artemio Franchi	1967–1976
28	Franco Carraro	1976–1978
29	Artemio Franchi	1978–1980
30	Federico Sordillo	1980–1986
31	Franco Carraro	1986–1987
32	Antonio Matarrese	1987–1996
33	Raffaele Pagnozzi	1996–1997
34	Luciano Nizzola	1997–2000
35	Gianni Petrucci	2000–2001
36	Franco Carraro	2001–2006
37	Guido Rossi	2006
38	Luca Pancalli	2006–2007
39	Giancarlo Abete	2007–2014
40	Carlo Tavecchio	2014–2018
41	Roberto Fabbricini	2018
42	Gabriele Gravina	2018–

External links

• Official website (in Italian and English)
• Italy at FIFA site