Chaos continues to follow the Italy national team, as FIGC President Giovanni Malagò is now facing criticism for his decision to appoint Diana Bianchedi to the role of delegation chief, without consulting head coach Roberto Mancini, technical director Claudio Ranieri, or even Bianchedi herself.
Malagò criticised for acting alone on the selection of Italy’s new delegation chief
On Sunday, Malagò announced in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport that Bianchedi, a two-time Olympic gold medalist fencer and vice-President of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), will take over as head of the Italy national team delegation.
This is a role that was most recently filled by Gianluigi Buffon until earlier this year, when he resigned after Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup.
However, by Sunday afternoon, the appointment of Bianchedi had already run into difficulties, as she is still active in her position with CONI, and the Italian Olympic Committee has already suggested that taking on both roles would be ‘incompatible’.
To make matters worse for Malagò, it appears that he took the decision to select Bianchedi as Italy’s new delegation chief on his own, without informing any of the important parties until the very last minute.
According to the Corriere della Sera, CONI President Luciano Buonfiglio was only informed of Malagò’s decision to appoint Bianchedi at around 9 pm on Saturday evening, the night before the announcement went out in La Gazzetta dello Sport.
Astonishingly, Bianchedi was only informed herself on Sunday morning, after Malagò’s interview/announcement was published.
Monday’s report adds that Malagò did not consult Italy national team head coach Mancini nor FIGC technical director Ranieri either.
Bianchedi has not yet signed any contracts with the FIGC, and for now, it remains to be seen whether she will actually take over as delegation chief or not. She and Malagò are both currently on holiday.
