Galliani Says No: No FIGC Presidency Bid
In recent hours, the idea of Adriano Galliani standing for the FIGC presidency — Italy’s football governing body, left without a leader following Gabriele Gravina‘s resignation — had been circulating with some persistence. Given Galliani’s expertise and his long-standing presence at the top of Italian football, it was a suggestion that had a certain logic to it.
The former AC Milan Chief Executive, currently at the helm of Monza, has however chosen to close the door on this possibility once and for all. Galliani has declined, stressing that he gave the matter serious thought: he said he was honoured by the trust shown in him by certain clubs, but made it unequivocally clear that he will not accept any invitation to stand. The idea, moreover, never originated with him — it was floated informally by a number of figures within Italian football who had sounded him out about his availability.
The Name Galliani Is Backing: Giovanni Malagò
In declining the invitation, Galliani did not stop at a simple refusal. He took a firm stance, putting forward Giovanni Malagò — current president of the CONI, Italy’s National Olympic Committee — as the most suitable figure to lead Italian football’s governing body at this sensitive juncture. A choice that says a great deal about Galliani’s vision for the sport in Italy: Malagò is a leading institutional figure with broad experience across the world of sport, capable of navigating the political and organisational complexities that the FIGC will face in the years ahead.
Galliani’s endorsement is set to carry considerable weight in the debate that will unfold in the coming weeks around the election of the new federation president. His backing for Malagò could influence the position of several clubs and affiliated bodies.
A Return to Milan? A Scenario That Still Seems a Long Way Off
Galliani’s decision to stay out of the FIGC race inevitably reopens the conversation about a possible return to the helm of AC Milan — the club alongside which he wrote indelible chapters in world football history, working with Silvio Berlusconi through decades of extraordinary success. A return to the Rossoneri, however, currently looks like a distant scenario: the club’s existing leadership structure, with Paolo Scaroni as chairman and Giorgio Furlani as CEO, is firmly in place and leaves no room for immediate change.
Galliani, for his part, continues to do an excellent job at Monza, demonstrating that his managerial abilities remain fully intact. Italian football holds him in the highest regard, and the coming weeks will shed more light on how the landscape at the top of the FIGC takes shape.
