{"id":80578,"date":"2026-04-20T11:17:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/de-laurentiis-abete-not-a-good-fit-for-figc-president-role-malago-has-just-1-flaw\/"},"modified":"2026-04-20T11:17:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T11:17:29","slug":"de-laurentiis-abete-not-a-good-fit-for-figc-president-role-malago-has-just-1-flaw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/de-laurentiis-abete-not-a-good-fit-for-figc-president-role-malago-has-just-1-flaw\/","title":{"rendered":"De Laurentiis: Abete ‘not a good fit’ for FIGC President role, Malag\u00f2 has just 1 ‘flaw’"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\"Aurelio<\/source><\/picture><\/div>\n

Aurelio De Laurentiis unveiling new Napoli manager Antonio Conte<\/p>\n<\/div>\n


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Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis insists Giovanni Malag\u00f2 is the most-suited candidate to become the FIGC President and \u2018rebuild\u2019 Italian football, while Giancarlo Abete \u2018is a dear friend, but is not a good fit.\u2019<\/p>\n

Malag\u00f2 and Abete are expected to be the only two candidates at the FIGC Presidential election taking place on June 22, 2026.<\/p>\n

Malag\u00f2, a former CONI President, is the candidate picked by Lega Serie A, and today representatives of clubs in Italy\u2019s top flight will meet the 67-year-old to outline their project.<\/p>\n

Abete, on the other hand, already served as the FIGC President from 2007 to 2014 and is backed by Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (LND), which accounts for 34% of the vote, compared to Serie A\u2019s 18%.<\/p>\n

Any candidate, however, needs to\u00a0secure 51% of the vote to be elected, so Malag\u00f2 and Abete need to win over other members of the voting panel to win the election<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Napoli President De Laurentiis once again backed Malag\u00f2 just before the beginning of the Lega Serie A meeting in Milan today.<\/p>\n

\"NAPLES,<\/source><\/picture>
NAPLES, ITALY \u2013 DECEMBER 12: Aurelio De Laurentiis SSC Napoli President during the UEFA Champions League match between SCC Napoli and SC Braga at Stadio Diego Armando Maradona on December 12, 2023 in Naples, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Pecoraro\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI called Malag\u00f2, telling him to take charge of the situation because no one can do this better than him,\u201d De Laurentiis said via TMW.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an entrepreneur and a sportsman with plenty of experience. The only flaw is that he\u2019s in love with Roma, but we\u2019ll put up with that, too,\u201d he added, smiling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are tired of being led by people who have institutional roles just for personal prestige. The most important thing in life is to work, but to do that, you need knowledge. Nobody more than an entrepreneur who does business can fix things that don\u2019t work. From my perspective, Mr Malag\u00f2 is welcome.<\/p>\n

\"ROME,<\/source><\/picture>
ROME, ITALY \u2013 DECEMBER 01: Giancarlo Abete President of LND poses during the FIGC DCPS press conference at Europa Experience on December 01, 2023 in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Paolo Bruno\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAbete is a dear friend and a person I truly respect. His brother is a business partner in one of my companies, but he\u2019s not a good fit for this job,\u201d De Laurentiis continued.<\/p>\n

\u201cPerhaps, he\u2019ll be upset, but we are accustomed to expressing our thoughts in a democracy, even if Italians, by nature, are cowards.<\/p>\n

\"CORTINA<\/source><\/picture>
CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, ITALY \u2013 MARCH 15: Giovanni Malago, President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 delivers a speech during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games closing ceremony at Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium on March 15, 2026 in Cortina d\u2019Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe wait for Malag\u00f2 and hope his ideas match ours. Football in Italy has to be rebuilt. They say I\u2019m a visionary, but I came from the world of cinema in 2004, and I\u2019ve been annoyingly saying since then that everything\u2019s old and that kids wouldn\u2019t watch matches anymore. But nobody is there to listen because everyone is just thinking about their seats.\u201d<\/p>\n

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