Malagò as commissioner rather than Malagò as president. The right solution to keep politics out of sport

It may well be an Italian-style shambles, but ultimately it is the right solution to save everyone and keep politics out of sport. Malagò as commissioner rather than Malagò as president is not just a tongue-twister, but the best way out of a situation in which Italian sport should never have found itself. The impasse stemmed from a missing membership card, which Malagò will now be able to obtain while serving as commissioner, thereby meeting all requirements to stand in the new election. Was such a commotion really necessary? No, given that it was ultimately determined that Malagò was the victim rather than the culprit.

The serious error had been committed by the FIGC, which had accepted his candidacy despite one of the requirements being missing. No one had asked him for his membership card, and the process proceeded until Renato Miele lodged an appeal – his own application having been rejected because he lacked the support of one of the constituent bodies. Malagò was at fault for not knowing the rule. More serious, however, was the fault of those who failed to point this out to him, even though the FIGC maintain that, in their view, membership was not necessary in that instance.

Back and forth it went, legal opinions pitted against legal opinions, until the eve of the showdown that could have split CONI, because if the Executive Committee had been divided over the request to place the FIGC under special administration, it would have been the CONI president who would have found himself in trouble. CONI had no choice but to place the FIGC under special administration due to administrative irregularities, to avoid being placed under special administration itself. At that point, the idea arose to propose Malagò as his own commissioner. A proposal that the Executive Committee approved unanimously and which the Council subsequently ratified. But whose idea was it to replace Malagò the president with Malagò the commissioner? It all began with a joke from Malagò himself who, a few weeks ago on the sidelines of an Executive Committee meeting, had said: “If you think I’m just a victim, make me commissioner.” Gradually, that remark evolved into a serious proposal, and when Buonfiglio realised he would not secure a clear majority, he revived it after clearing his mind by attending a morning of youth sports events in Bari.

After consulting with his lawyers and receiving confirmation that football (i.e. Serie A) was still backing Malagò, he revealed his plan as he stepped off the plane at Fiumicino. At that point, he rang Malagò to get his approval. Reaching an agreement that suited everyone proved straightforward. A ploy that gets CONI out of a tight spot, asserting its absolute autonomy, whilst keeping Malagò in his post – a man who has certainly learnt a great deal during his first 100 days as president, buoyed by the results of the senior national team and the Under-21s, which have already made people forget his missteps. The decision to press on with Malagò will draw laughter from some and cries of scandal from others, but it underscores a familiar truth: while Malagò may divide the political world, no one else can unite the sporting world quite like him.