Bianchedi in the national team: the controversy erupts. A war of words between CONI and the FIGC
Malagò announces his appointment as head of the Italian team’s delegation. The Olympic Committee: checks are being carried out to ascertain whether this role is incompatible with his position as a member of the executive committee. For the FIGC, the role is purely representative.
Key points
The appointment of Diana Bianchedi as head of the national football team’s delegation, announced by FIGC president Giovanni Malagò in an interview with *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, has immediately sparked a row, with CONI and the FIGC exchanging pointed remarks from a distance.
The issue of holding two posts simultaneously
Bianchedi is, in fact, deputy vice-president and a member of the National Executive Committee of the Olympic Committee. This raises the question of whether she can hold both her role at CONI and that of team manager for the national football team, having only recently been appointed by Roberto Mancini as head coach, following the brief spell of Paolo Maldini as technical director and Leonardo as an adviser, who had other ideas about how the Azzurri should be led.
The start of the assessments
Following the incident in Bianchedi, CONI has launched a formal investigation to assess the compatibility of the dual role. In a statement, the Olympic Committee announced that ‘in accordance with the Statutes and applicable laws, the relevant departments and competent bodies have been promptly mobilised to assess any issues of appropriateness, ineligibility and incompatibility, in order to safeguard the National Executive Committee’.
What does the CONI Statute provide for?
Article 7(4) of the CONI Statutes stipulates, in fact, that members of the National Executive Committee, ‘should they find themselves in a situation of permanent conflict of interest, shall be deemed incompatible with the office they hold and must be removed from office’.
For the FIGC, it is a purely representative role
The FIGC, however, sees no conflict of interest. Sources within the Italian Football Federation have stated that ‘no conflict of interest is recognised in the appointment of Diana Bianchedi, vice-president and member of the CONI Executive Committee, as head of the Italian national football team’s delegation’.
