FIGC President Gabriele Gravina confirms he has asked Gennaro Gattuso and Gigi Buffon to remain in the Italy staff, and is not tending his resignation after missing another World Cup.
The President was in the stands with the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) President Luigi Bonfiglio and UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin in Zenica.
Italy had taken the lead through Moise Kean, but after Alessandro Bastoni saw red for a last man foul on 41 minutes, Bosnia and Herzegovina equalised through a Haris Tabakovic tap-in.
They held on throughout extra time, and even had the chances to win it, but were heavily beaten in a penalty shoot-out when Francesco Pio Esposito and Bryan Cristante missed the target.
Gravina resists calls to start from scratch
“Our state of mind is fairly self-evident, especially considering the way the result developed,” said Gravina in a press conference.
“Allow me to compliment the lads, who have grown in leaps and bounds over the last few months. Many of you were unable to fully appreciate the atmosphere created lately.
“We wanted to give our fans joy, and I want to compliment Rino Gattuso. He is a great coach, I asked him to remain along with Gigi Buffon, in charge of this team.”
Gravina was in the tiny locker room after the match during Gattuso’s team talk to the players.
“You missed a moment of great unity in the locker room. You all saw the match, the players were heroic in the circumstances. After that, I understand there are evaluations to be made.”
People had already called for Gravina’s resignation after disappointing Italy results, so can he really hang on to his spot after missing a third consecutive edition of the World Cup?
“There is a Federal Counsel, I already decided to call a meeting next week, and that is when there will be evaluations. I understand that people will call for my resignation, but there is a suitable situation to do that.
“Next week we will make much deeper reflections on the situation, because the questions you ask require the right place to respond. The FIGC has to decide how to choose and build its team. We can only do with what we have at our disposal in the league.”
Gravina is expected to call an immediate election for a new President of the Football Federation.
There was some controversy during the match, as while Bastoni’s red card was inarguable, there was a not dissimilar situation in extra time on Marco Palestra that only warranted a yellow card.
Italian media have also focused on a potential Edin Dzeko handling offence in the build-up to the equaliser.
“There were some choices and applications of the rules that left us somewhat perplexed,” replied Gravina.
“There were some incidents that could’ve required further investigation.”
Alejandro Damron
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