Gabriele Gravina

Gabriele Gravina
Gravina in 2021
First Vice President of UEFA
Assumed office
3 April 2025
PresidentAleksander Čeferin
Preceded byKarl-Erik Nilsson
(as first vice-president)
UEFA Vice President
Assumed office
21 April 2021
PresidentAleksander Čeferin
Vice PresidentKarl-Erik Nilsson
(as first vice-president)
President of FIGC
In office
22 October 2018 – 2 April 2026
Preceded byRoberto Fabbricini
Succeeded byGiovanni Malagò
Personal details
Born (1953-10-05) 5 October 1953[1]
OccupationFootball administrator

Gabriele Gravina Grande Ufficiale OMRI (born 5 October 1953) is an Italian sport director. From 2018 to 2026, he served as president of the Italian Football Federation.

Biography

Originally from Castellaneta, Gravina resides in Sulmona, Abruzzo.[2] He has a degree in Law.[3] He has been an honorary citizen of Castel di Sangro since 14 December 2018.[4]

Career

President of Lega Pro

On 22 December 2015, Gravina was elected president of the Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico with 31 votes against Raffaele Pagnozzi and Paolo Marcheschi with 13 and 7 votes respectively,[5] thus succeeding Mario Macalli.[6][3] He was reelected as president on 15 November 2016, with 55 votes, while his opponent Alessandro Barilli received only 3.[7]

President of FIGC

Gravina resigned as president of Lega Pro on 16 October 2018,[8] and was elected president of the Italian Football Federation on 22 October with 97.2% of the votes.[9] On 11 April 2019, he received the La Moda Veste la Pace Award from the European Parliament in Brussels for the activities to combat racism in football carried out during his term as President of the Italian Football Federation.[10]

On 22 February 2021, Gravina ran for presidency of the FIGC against his deputy Cosimo Sibilia, president of the National Amateur League who supported him, with the support of most professional clubs, the Italian Football Coaches Association and the Italian Footballers Association.[11][12] He was re-elected with 73.45% of the votes.[13] On 20 April, Gravina was elected to the UEFA executive committee with 53 votes out of 55, making him the first of eight elected.[14]

During Gravina's presidency, on 11 July 2021, the Italian men's national football team became European champion by winning the UEFA Euro 2020.[15] They also finished in third place in the UEFA Nations League Finals in 2021 UEFA Nations League Finals and 2023.[16] Also during his presidency, the women's national team also qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, where they competed in Group G.[17]

However, the men's national team had failed to qualify for the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cup,[18][19] As a result of the failure to qualify on 31 March 2026, two days later Gravina resigned as President of the FIGC.[20]

Honours

Orders

References

  1. ↑ "Gabriele Gravina". UEFA. 20 April 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  2. ↑ University of Teramo. "Curriculum prof. Gabriele Gravina". Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Calcio, un abruzzese alla guida della Lega pro". Il Centro. 22 December 2015. Archived from the original on 23 December 2015. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Commosso per la Cittadinanza Onoraria, Gravina a Castel Di Sangro". report-age.com. 14 December 2018. Archived from the original on 15 December 2018. Retrieved 6 July 2021.
  5. ↑ Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico. "GABRIELE GRAVINA ELETTO PRESIDENTE DELLA LEGA PRO". Retrieved 23 December 2015.
  6. ↑ Fulvio Bianchi (22 December 2015). "La Lega Pro volta pagina: Gravina è il nuovo presidente". La Repubblica.
  7. ↑ Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico. "LEGA PRO – GRAVINA CONFERMATO PRESIDENTE CON 55 VOTI SU 59". Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  8. ↑ "Lega Pro, Gravina lascia: "Figc? Ho già idee in testa"". 16 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "Figc, Gravina nuovo presidente: eletto con il 97,20% dei voti". 22 October 2018.
  10. ↑ "Assegnato a Gabriele Gravina il Premio "la Moda veste la Pace"". Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  11. ↑ Valerio Piccioni (19 December 2020). "La Lega A spinge Gravina: la riconferma è più vicina". La Gazzetta dello Sport. p. 15.
  12. ↑ "Elezioni Figc, anche i calciatori votano Gravina". Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  13. ↑ "Gabriele Gravina rieletto presidente della Figc". Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  14. ↑ "Un plebiscito per Gravina: il presidente Figc è stato eletto nel Comitato Esecutivo Uefa". La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "Italia campione, Gravina: "Bellissimo tornare a Roma con la coppa"" (in Italian). 12 July 2021.
  16. ↑ "Italy beat Belgium to claim third". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  17. ↑ "Mondiali femminili, il Sudafrica batte l'Italia 3-2: Azzurre eliminate ai gironi" (in Italian). 2 August 2023. Retrieved 3 August 2023.
  18. ↑ "Italy miss out on third straight WC in shootout loss to Bosnia". espn.com. ESPN FC. 31 March 2026.
  19. ↑ "Italy miss out on third World Cup in a row after penalties defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in play-off". Sky Sports. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
  20. ↑ "🇮🇹 Gabriele Gravina, FIGC president, resigns after World Cup flop". OneFootball. 2 April 2026.
  21. ↑ "Mattarella ha conferito onorificenze motu proprio ai giocatori e allo staff della Nazionale vincitrice del campionato europeo" (in Italian). quirinale.it. 16 July 2021. Archived from the original on 16 July 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2021.