Tavecchio resigns after flop

ROME – Italian football federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio resigned yesterday, a week after the national team failed to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time in 60 years.

Tavecchio, 74, had been under pressure to step down after a goalless draw at home to Sweden meant Italy missed out on the World Cup for the first time since 1958. Coach Gian Piero Ventura was sacked last Wednesday.

An angry Tavecchio told a news conference he had resigned because he had lost political support within the FIGC, not because of the team’s results on the field.

“I didn’t think for an instant. I resigned and I resigned as a political act to the council, certainly not for sporting reasons. I asked the members of the Federal Council to resign as well and nobody did, they left me on my own.”

Often referring to himself in the third person, he said he had been the victim of persecution by the media.

“The only thing missing was Tavecchio on the cross,” he said.