Italy warned it could be STRIPPED of Euro 2032 hosting duties by UEFA chief after latest World Cup failure

In the wake of Italy's devastating failure to reach the 2026 World Cup, the UEFA chief has sparked further panic by casting doubt over the country's ability to host Euro 2032. While the tournament is currently scheduled to be held in Italy and Turkey, Ceferin pointed to the subpar state of Italian grounds as a potential deal-breaker.

Speaking on the matter in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, Ceferin stated: "Euro 2032 is in programme and will go ahead as scheduled. I hope the infrastructure will be ready. Otherwise, the tournament won't be played in Italy." He further highlighted that Italian politicians need to look in the mirror regarding the state of the national game, adding: "Perhaps it is the Italian politicians who should ask themselves why Italy has one of the worst football infrastructures in Europe." This urgency was echoed by Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala amid plans for Inter and AC Milan to buy San Siro and build a new adjacent stadium: "[The new stadium] must be ready by 2031, because UEFA is telling us that they will not consider Milan for the 2032 European Championship if San Siro remains."

Despite the mounting political pressure on FIGC president Gabriele Gravina, Ceferin has come to the defence of his counterpart. Many in Italy, including sport minister Andrea Abodi, have called for a total overhaul of the federation's leadership following the playoff defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ceferin, however, believes the blame lies elsewhere.

"It is absolutely not Gabriele's fault and I wouldn't dare attack either the players or the coach," Ceferin added. "When I was president of the Slovenian FA I always told the coach: 'If you win, you and the players will be the heroes. If you lose, the blame will fall on us'." He described Gravina as a "gentleman who loves football" and suggested that finding a replacement of his calibre would be a significant challenge for the Italian game.

The failure to qualify for a third straight World Cup has triggered a civil war within the Italian sporting landscape. Abodi has been vocal in demanding a renewal of the FIGC leadership, claiming it is "objectively unfair to deny one’s own responsibility" for the catastrophe. The fallout has reached the highest levels of government, with formal petitions being launched to force resignations.

Ceferin addressed this hostile environment, noting: "It makes me angry and sad that there are people who are secretly waiting for something to go wrong then to jump out and start criticizing. They're not supporting Italy, they're supporting themselves.

"Gabriele is my first vice president and is very important to me. But the greatest loss would be to the FIGC. It won't be easy to find a gentleman who loves football and Italy so much. But I'm not so naive as to believe that self-centred people, just waiting for something to go wrong, would think about it. They don't care."

While the boardroom battle rages on, the technical side of the Azzurri is already facing a total vacuum. Gennaro Gattuso is expected to exit his role as head coach following the failure in Zenica, and high-profile names like Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri have been touted as potential saviours to lead the reconstruction project. However, any new appointment will serve only as a temporary fix if the deeper issues regarding stadiums and political support highlighted by Ceferin are not addressed before the 2032 deadline. For now, the four-time world champions remain in a state of unprecedented soul-searching.