Former FIGC boss Carlo Tavecchio is back in an apical managerial position in Italian football at age 77 as he won elections to become the head of the regional council of the amateurs in Lombardy, the largest section of Serie D, the fourth and semi-professional division in the Peninsula.
Tavecchio bested his competitor Alberto Pasquali with 380 votes against 366. He commented: “I did not know my opponent well, I congratulate him. I have been gone for seven years, which is an eternity nowadays. The season we are facing is tragic, I do not think we are in condition to carry on with it at this stage. There are too many games left to be played and I do not the groups should have 18 teams.”
Tavecchio chaired Serie D for 15 years from 1999 to 2014 before his rise to the top of the Italian Football Association (FIGC). After weathering an early storm caused by some racist remarks, which earned him a six-month suspension from UEFA, his terms was cut short as he resigned after Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, since his decision appoint the veteran Gian Piero Ventura as Azzurri gaffer proved to be unsuccessful.
He added: “I will return to Rome without sense of vengeance but I will try to change the situation. We have to solve the issues by putting our personal agendas aside and representing with dignity a region that has 10M inhabitants.”