Newly elected Italian football President Malagò must turn Italy’s football crisis into structural reform

Giovanni Malagò has been elected president of the Italian Football Federation with 68.58% of the vote, handing the former Italian Olympic Committee chief responsibility for rebuilding a football system facing sporting, infrastructure and commercial pressure.Malagò defeated former FIGC president Giancarlo Abete after securing support from Serie A, players and coaches. He succeeds Gabriele Gravina, who resigned following Italy’s failure to qualify for a third consecutive FIFA World Cup.Malagò said: “I am not afraid but I am highly mindful of the responsibilities. The expectations are absurdly high but that is also the case within the Federation itself.”The election gives Malagò a clear majority but not unrestricted control. Italian football remains divided among Serie A, Serie B, Serie C, the amateur game, players, coaches and referees, each with different financial and competitive priorities.His immediate task is to appoint a new men’s national-team coach and rebuild the technical leadership structure vacated after the World Cup qualification defeat.Paolo Maldini has been linked with a technical director role, while Malagò is expected to pursue a senior coach capable of carrying authority with clubs and players. No appointments have been confirmed.Recruiting prominent former internationals could restore credibility around the national team, but personnel changes alone will not resolve the structural problems behind Italy’s decline.The country that won UEFA Euro 2020 will have missed the 2018, 2022 and 2026 World Cups. Each failure has brought changes in coaches and executives without producing a development system capable of consistently supplying elite players.Malagò must therefore establish a binding agreement between the FIGC and professional leagues covering the identification, coaching and competitive development of young Italians.Serie A clubs have limited incentives to prioritise domestic prospects when experienced overseas players may provide a quicker route to survival, European qualification or transfer income.Federation rules imposing rigid quotas would risk legal and competitive resistance. A more workable approach would combine financial incentives, squad registration benefits and central distributions linked to minutes played by club-trained players.The FIGC could also expand compensation for academies that develop players who later move within Italy or overseas, ensuring smaller clubs receive a clearer financial return from youth investment.Italy’s youth teams have continued to record strong results, suggesting the system is producing talent at junior level. The breakdown occurs when players move from academy football into senior professional competition.Malagò will need Serie A, Serie B and Serie C to provide coordinated pathways rather than operating separate development strategies. Reserve teams, loans and minimum facility standards should form part of that programme.Access to football is another concern. Italy needs more modern local pitches, qualified coaches and affordable participation routes, particularly in major cities and communities where demographic change is not fully reflected in the professional game.A national academy strategy should measure player retention, coaching quality and progression rather than focusing primarily on tournament results at youth level.Stadiums present the most urgent deadlineMalagò’s infrastructure challenge has a fixed timetable because Italy is due to co-host UEFA Euro 2032 with Türkiye.UEFA has warned that Italy could lose part or all of its hosting allocation unless credible stadium projects advance. The country must provide five venues, with UEFA assessing progress against modern standards covering hospitality, transport, security, accessibility and broadcast operations.Italy’s stadium problem has developed over decades. Many Serie A clubs play in municipally owned venues with ageing facilities, limited premium inventory and weak non-matchday revenue.Complex approval procedures, political opposition and disagreements between clubs and councils have delayed projects in Milan, Rome, Florence, Naples, Bologna and other cities.A special stadium commissioner can accelerate administrative processes, but Malagò must use the Euro 2032 deadline to align the national government, municipalities, clubs and private investors.His experience delivering the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics should be relevant. That project required coordination across government, sport, infrastructure and commercial stakeholders, although football stadiums bring different ownership and financing challenges.The FIGC cannot finance new venues itself. It can establish deadlines, provide technical support and use Euro 2032 selection to reward cities with deliverable projects rather than politically attractive proposals.A credible national plan should identify which five venues can be completed, how each will be funded and what approvals remain outstanding.Projects without secure land, financing or planning consent cannot be treated as equal to developments already moving towards construction.Modern stadiums would improve more than Italy’s tournament readiness. They would give clubs greater hospitality, sponsorship, retail and event revenue, reducing dependence on broadcast distributions and player sales.Juventus have demonstrated the commercial benefits of controlling a modern venue, but the model has not been reproduced widely across Serie A.Malagò’s success will partly depend on whether Euro 2032 becomes an infrastructure catalyst or another deadline followed by temporary renovations to outdated public facilities.Media rights require a stronger collective productSerie A’s domestic agreements with DAZN and Sky are worth about €900m per season until 2029, slightly below the previous cycle.That outcome reflected pressure across the Italian pay-television market and concerns among clubs that Serie A has fallen behind the Premier League in presentation, international sales and central commercial development.The FIGC does not sell Serie A rights, leaving Malagò unable to renegotiate the league’s contracts directly. He can still help improve the underlying product from which those rights derive.Better stadiums, stronger scheduling, younger recognisable players and a more competitive national team would strengthen the league’s value to broadcasters and sponsors.Italian football also needs more consistent international marketing. Serie A has globally recognised clubs and historic rivalries, but its central proposition often relies on individual teams rather than a unified league identity.Kick-off planning should account more closely for overseas audiences without damaging domestic attendance. Broadcast production, digital content and multilingual distribution must also become more consistent.Piracy remains another constraint on rights value. Italy has introduced stronger blocking and enforcement measures, but broadcasters will expect quicker implementation and cooperation across platforms and telecommunications providers.Malagò can use the FIGC’s institutional position to coordinate government engagement, even though Lega Serie A retains commercial responsibility.The next domestic rights process will begin during his presidency. Progress before that sale will need to be visible in stadiums, fan experience and the presentation of the competition.Financial stability cannot be separated from reformItalian professional football remains heavily indebted, with the FIGC reporting total indebtedness of €5.5bn and debt equal to more than 80% of assets.Serie A’s labour-cost position has improved, but Serie B and Serie C remain vulnerable. Wage costs in the lower professional divisions continue to consume a large proportion of revenue.Malagò must balance investment with stronger licensing and financial controls. Allowing clubs to accumulate unsustainable obligations in pursuit of promotion weakens the entire pyramid.More reliable ownership tests,