Gabriele Gravina has resigned as the head of Italy’s football association (FIGC) following their failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup. <\/p>\n
The four-time world champions suffered another play-off final defeat when they were beaten 4-1 on penalties by Bosnia-Herzegovina<\/a> on Tuesday. <\/p>\n No previous winner of the tournament has missed three World Cups in a row, which Italy now have after missing out on Russia in 2018 and Qatar 2022.<\/p>\n Also on Thursday, former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who was working closely with the men’s national team, resigned as delegation head via Instagram., external<\/a> <\/p>\n Buffon, who was part of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning side, wrote that with Gravina’s decision to go, he felt, “as an act of responsibility”, he should do the same.<\/p>\n “The main objective was to bring Italy back to the World Cup. And we didn’t succeed,” Buffon, 48, added.<\/p>\n “It’s fair to leave it to those who will come after the freedom to choose the figure they think is best to play my role.”<\/p>\n Gravina, 72, who is the Uefa first vice-president, announced his resignation following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome. <\/p>\n He took the job in October 2018, with his predecessor Carlo Tavecchio having stepped down following Italy’s failure to beat Sweden in a World Cup play-off the previous year. <\/p>\n