Recently, Italian Sports Minister Abodi spoke to La Gazzetta dello Sport about Italy’s elimination in the Round of 16 at the Euros and related topics.
Abodi said, “After our exit in the Round of 16 of the Euros, we lacked self-criticism and responsibility. There was no discussion within the Italian Football Federation, starting with President Gravina’s report. The early elections as a first step, I feel, were an instinctive reaction rather than the result of collective reflection. Of course, this acceleration made the ‘Mulè Amendment’ even more useful and necessary in its final version. I had a negative opinion of the first version, and I also told UEFA President Ceferin that, in Germany, we had honest and constructive dialogue, which is contrary to some inaccurate descriptions. In any case, now I hope that this law, which will be passed in the next few hours, can be immediately implemented through the free will of the Italian Football Federation and its various components.”
Abodi also discussed Spalletti and the overall management of the national team: “I hope to see the restoration of the institution within the Italian Football Federation dedicated to training and selecting national team coaches and technical staff, which requires rethinking the overall structure of Italian clubs and their technical departments. I have always had a positive assessment of Spalletti, but there also needs to be analysis and self-criticism, which has been missing. What happened cannot simply be explained by saying ‘it happened’ or ‘the opponent was stronger.’ We showed our worst side. I hope they can learn from this failure, but so far, I have not seen any signs of that.”