Coni, Malagò wins. Towards a one-year extension: he still leads for Milan-Cortina

Coni, Malagò towards the extension until the Milan-Cortina Olympics. The government’s U-turn

With less than a month to go until the end of the Paris Olympics everything seems to have changed in the government’s strategies for leading the Cones. There seemed to be no chance for Giovanni’s reappointment Malagobut something has evidently changed and now for the head of Italian sports confirmation until the end of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics seems to be just a step away. The hypothesis – according to what Il Foglio has learned – is starting to circulate with a certain insistence: the government could extend for one year Malagò’s mandate at Coni. The extra year could be included in the next one Milleproroghe decree which will be launched by the Council of Ministers in the coming months. With an unexpected and disruptive effect.

Especially if one thinks about the exchange that divided the president of the Cones from the Minister of Sport Andrea Abodes. “Malagò’s cycle is coming to an end, you also have to get up from your armchairs“, the minister had said. Irritating, and not a little Malagò, who had replied: “The minister was out of place. The eventual decision not to change the law goes against the consensus of the world of sport”. The law in fact – continues Il Foglio – prevents Malagò, now in his third term, from apply for the fourth time. But the law only applies to Coni, not to the other federations and this could make the difference in Malagò’s battle. For these federations, in fact, the ban of a maximum of three mandates has been passed by law last year.

This explains, for example, the Paolo Barelli’s seventh election at the helm of Fin, or the confirmation of Angel Binaghi as president of the Tennis Federation, role he has held since 2001. The same cancellation was not introduced for Coni. Malagò has been underlining this difference for weeks. The extension would be a partial response from the government. The extension would serve to maintain the constraint. Then there is the time factor: it is risky to elect a new president a few months before the winter games in Milan and Cortina. The proximity of the Olympics pushes us to also avoid possible clashes over succession.