A French word at the heart of one of the most intricate cases in Italian sports governance. It is “Pantouflage”, meaning the transition of a public official to positions in the private sector, bringing with them the relationships built in their previous institutional role. And it is this rule, introduced by the so-called Consolidated Law on Public Employment, that transforms Giovanni Malagò’s candidacy for the presidency of the FIGC into a legal and political case.
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The “Pantouflage” rule
The issue is temporal. Malagò left the presidency of CONI on June 26, 2025. He submitted his candidacy for the leadership of the Football Federation on May 13, 2026, with elections set for June 22. Twelve months apart. The “Pantouflage” rule, provided for in art. 53, paragraph 16-ter of Legislative Decree 165/2001, requires thirty-six.
It reads: «Employees who, in the last three years of service, have exercised authoritative or negotiating powers on behalf of the public administrations referred to in article 1, paragraph 2, cannot carry out, in the three years following the termination of the public employment relationship, work or professional activities with private entities that are recipients of the public administration’s activities carried out through the same powers. Contracts concluded and assignments conferred in violation of the provisions of this paragraph are null and void, and private entities that have concluded or conferred them are prohibited from contracting with public administrations for the subsequent three years, with the obligation to return any compensation received and ascertained to be related to them».
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Is CONI considered a public administration?
The point, then, is precisely within the above period: CONI falls within those public administrations referred to in article 1, paragraph 2, of the Consolidated Law on Public Employment. This latter part, in particular, states: «Public administrations are understood to mean all State administrations». But the decisive part comes at the end: «Until the organic revision of the sector discipline, the provisions of this decree continue to apply also to CONI».
Elections on June 22
We come to the present, with about two weeks remaining until the vote (June 22) to elect the new president of the FIGC. On May 20, Lega senator Roberto Marti submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister of Sport Abodi, requesting a preliminary clarification from the competent authorities.
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