FIGC president visits UEFA

The president of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), Carlo Tavecchio, has visited the House of European Football in Nyon.

Mr Tavecchio was accompanied by a delegation including the FIGC CEO Michele Uva. He met UEFA President Michel Platini and senior UEFA national association officials for talks centering on European football developments and the long-standing relationship between UEFA and the Italian association, a founder member of the European governing body in 1954.

After studying to become an accountant, Carlo Tavecchio started working in the banking sector before becoming the mayor of the northern town Ponte Lambro, near Como, when he was only 33, in 1976 – keeping the role until 1995. He started working with FIGC in 1987 as a regional counsellor of the Lega Nazionali Dilettanti (LND) – the National Amateur League – becoming national president of the same body in 1999. In 2007, Mr Tavecchio became vice-president of FIGC and a member of the UEFA's Youth and Amateur Football Committee. He was elected as FIGC president last August.

"I have been friends with President Platini for some years now, and I have always enjoyed an extremely cordial relationship with him," he told UEFA.com. "Today's talks have been a harbinger of a positive future for both UEFA and the Italian association."

FIGC was founded on 16 March 1898 in Turin. Over a long history now, Italy's national teams, its clubs and a wealth of renowned players and coaches have performed with considerable distinction on the world and European football stage, and the country has left an indelible mark in the annals of the game. Four FIFA World Cup titles (1934, 1938, 1982, 2006) and one EURO triumph, in 1968, appear on Italy's list of honours.

At youth level, Italian sides won the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 and 2004; the U19s were European champions in 2003; the U16s (now U17s) prevailed in 1982 and 1987; and the UEFA International Youth Tournament of 1958 also features on the roll of honour. The country's clubs, meanwhile, have collected 44 trophies in European competitions: AC Milan lead with 17, followed by Juventus (11), FC Internazionale Milano (eight), Parma FC (four), SS Lazio (two), and SSC Napoli and ACF Fiorentina (one).

Mr Tavecchio said he has a strong sense of the significance of the football relationship between UEFA and FIGC. He said: "Italy is one of the 'four-star' sporting nations, if we recall the past, and look at the present. I think that the relationship with UEFA is important, because UEFA is at the focal point of the football world – UEFA is the 'mother figure' of our sporting strategies, and UEFA has helped drive football at world level."

The FIGC president welcomed the positive impact of the UEFA HatTrick assistance scheme on behalf of Europe's national associations, especially in providing funding for development. "This programme has provided a lot of satisfaction for Italy," he reflected. "The programme is important because it helps all of the associations grow."

With Italy such a footballing stronghold – a country where the game enjoys massive popularity – Mr Tavecchio relishes the motivation of being at the helm of the association in its efforts to constantly take Italian football forward. "Football forms the basis of Italian people's free time. Eighty percent of Italians, when they have a free hour of time, talk about football. We have more than one and a half million people active in football, and I therefore believe that I am representing an important country within UEFA."

As well as important future targets such as helping create solid and healthy financial foundations at club level, promotiong youth development, and nurturing positive football relations with other countries, Mr Tavecchio has the same dream as millions of football-mad Italians – to see his national team win a second EURO title, the first in nearly half a century, in France next summer. "I would like to win the European Championship," he stressed. "It won't be easy, because we are playing in France, an important football country, and there are [a number of other teams] wanting to do well. It will be extremely difficult – but let us hope…."