CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY – MARCH 5: Giovanni Malago, President of the Organising Committee for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, speaks during the mural inauguration ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Paralympic Games at the Cortina Paralympic Village on March 05, 2026 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. (Photo by Linnea Rheborg/Getty Images for IPC)
FIGC President Giovanni Malagò reassured the Italy squad that they are ‘all in the same boat’ focused on the present and the future, while there is ‘good news’ on the EURO 2032 stadiums.
The chief visited the Coverciano training ground today to see coach Roberto Mancini and the players, many of them getting their first experience of senior international football.
“I’ve made these speeches many times in my life, varying of course depending on whether it is a team sport or an individual one,” Malagò told reporters.
He was for many years the President of the CONI, the Italian Olympic Committee that oversees all sporting activity in Italy.
“If there’s one thing that people recognise me for, it’s my ability to connect with athletes and speak to their hearts. I was given the great honour by then-President Gabriele Gravina of being invited to speak to the players when they were preparing for the Euros in 2021, and I hope that helped then too.”
Malagò tries to inspire Azzurri
What did he tell the Italy players in today’s meeting as they go into the Nations League and have to put the disappointment of World Cup failure behind them?
“I told them we are all in the same boat, not different ones traversing together. I talked about faith, optimism, self-belief. In Sport you don’t always achieve the results you want, but it is still important to feel joy.
“Italy is watching us, now more than ever, and we must all show a certain faith.”
It was Malagò who brought Mancini in for his second Italy tenure, so how does the FIGC President like the first call-ups?
“I’d be crazy not to. It was pretty much what I expected, considering how the coach thinks, so something consolidated and something with prospects for the future.
“In two years we’ll play the Euros, in four a World Cup, results permitting, and in six the Euros at home where at least we’ve qualified regardless. All jokes aside, we must look to the future over those six years, otherwise it’d be irresponsible, but at the same time look at the present and maybe even what happened yesterday.”
October 1 is the deadline for Italy to present the dossier on its six stadiums to co-host EURO 2032 with Turkiye.
“UEFA asked for some extra documentation to the one presented in late July, and I won’t reveal anything here, but we have seen some positive news.”
