Ceferin: “If the stadiums are not ready, the Euros will not be played in Italy”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin was also in the stands for Bosnia vs. Italy in Zenica, watching firsthand as Italy crashed out in the playoff final for the 2026 World Cup. And missing a third straight World Cup could trigger major changes at the top of the Italian Football Federation.

Ceferin spoke with La Gazzetta dello Sport, pushing back against the idea that the FIGC alone is to blame. “When I was president of the Slovenian federation, I always told the coach: ‘If you win, you and the players are the heroes. If you lose, the responsibility is shared.’ This isn’t Gravina’s fault at all, and I wouldn’t dare blame the players or the coach,” he said. “Maybe Italian politicians should ask themselves why Italy has some of the worst football infrastructure in Europe.”

Ceferin and FIGC president Gabriele Gravina have a close relationship—Gravina served as Ceferin’s first vice president on UEFA’s Executive Committee.

“Gabriele is my first vice president and incredibly important to me,” Ceferin said. “But the biggest loss would be for the FIGC. It won’t be easy to find someone who loves football and Italy as much as he does. It angers and saddens me that some people secretly wait for things to go wrong just so they can criticize. They don’t support Italy—they support themselves. Tell me which Italian player deserved a call‑up and didn’t get one. That’s football. Even with your best players on the field, anyone can lose a match.”

Looking ahead, Ceferin didn’t mince words about Italy’s responsibilities. “Euro 2032 is scheduled and will be played—if the infrastructure is ready. If not, the tournament won’t take place in Italy,” he warned. “Italy is one of the great football nations and will return to the top. The biggest problem in Italian football is the relationship between football politics and ‘normal’ politics. If everyone aligned, Italy would soon be European and world champion again.”

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