Malagò membership dispute opens new governance risk for Italian football

Italian football is facing a new governance dispute after sports prosecutors moved to verify whether FIGC president Giovanni Malagò held the required federation membership when he submitted his candidacy earlier this year.The General Sports Prosecutor’s Office at the Italian National Olympic Committee has asked the FIGC prosecutor to establish when Malagò’s registration became effective, a potentially significant question because federation rules require candidates for office to be properly registered when they apply.Malagò was elected FIGC president on June 22 with 68.58% of the vote, defeating Giancarlo Abete and succeeding Gabriele Gravina after eight years in charge.After his election, Malagò said: “On my own I can’t do anything. With you, I can do everything.”The latest review stems from challenges brought by lawyer and former footballer Renato Miele, whose own presidential candidacy was rejected because he had not secured the required backing from federation delegates.Miele challenged both his exclusion and the admission of Malagò and Abete, including on the grounds that Malagò allegedly did not meet the FIGC membership requirement when his candidacy was filed.The FIGC’s National Federal Court declared Miele’s initial challenge partly unfounded and partly inadmissible on June 8, while the Federal Court of Appeal rejected a subsequent appeal on June 18.Miele then challenged the process before CONI’s Sports Guarantee Board, seeking measures including the annulment of Malagò’s election and a repeat presidential vote. That application was declared inadmissible on July 15.Those rulings did not establish that Malagò was ineligible. The current process is instead focused on verifying the underlying registration documentation and the date from which his FIGC membership was valid.The distinction is significant for the federation. Malagò remains FIGC president and there has been no decision suspending his powers, invalidating the June election or overturning decisions made since he took office.The matter is also a sports-governance procedure rather than a criminal investigation.Any finding that Malagò fulfilled the membership requirement would substantially weaken the challenge. A contrary finding could raise more complex questions over the electoral process and create institutional uncertainty around the leadership of Italian football.That risk comes as the FIGC faces major strategic issues including club financial sustainability, stadium development, domestic player pathways and restoring the competitiveness of the Italian national team.The immediate focus is therefore on the FIGC prosecutor’s examination of Malagò’s registration records, with the outcome determining whether the dispute ends as a procedural challenge or develops into a wider governance issue.