Tavecchio confirmed as new FIGC president

Carlo Tavecchio has been named as the new president of the Italian football association (FIGC), the body announced on Monday. The controversial 71-year-old has been voted in as Giancarlo Abete's replacement as the head of Italian football's governing body. The 71-year-old was vice-president of the federation from 2009, but confirmed his candidacy for the top job following Giancarlo Abete's decision to resign after Italy's early exit from the World Cup in Brazil in June. And despite a controversial campaign, in which he caused a racism stir and was accused of sexism in a previous interview in 2009, Tavecchio fought off the challenge of former AC Milan star Demetrio Albertini to be named as the FIGC's new president.

It took three rounds of voting for Tavecchio to overcome Albertini, having collected only 60.20 per cent of the 516 available votes originally. A minimum of 75% is needed for election on the initial vote, with 66% deemed sufficient on a second round and 51% of a third.

But while the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (LND) chief fell short at the second time of asking too, claiming 63.18%, he eventually secured the requisite support in the final round, with 63.63% voting in his favour.

One of Tavecchio's first duties will be to help choose the new Italy national team coach, with former Juventus boss Antonio Conte the current front-runner for the role.  With LND clubs holding a total of 34 per cent of voting rights in the FIGC election, the Lega Pro's announcement last week that it would support Tavecchio made his candidacy a near-certainty.