(ANSA) Rome, July 31 - Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC)
presidential hopeful Carlo Tavecchio insisted Thursday his hat
remains in the ring despite a furore over his comments on
"banana-eating" players while calling for tighter restrictions
on non-EU players.
"It is certainly not true that I am giving up, as I have
read in one newspaper," Tavecchio, 71, told ANSA, "I will go
ahead with my candidature for the FIGC presidency as long as the
leagues confirm their support for me."
Tavecchio, head of the National Amateur Leagues, was
scheduled to have a meeting Thursday afternoon with Olympic
Committee President Giovanni Malagò.
The other candidate for the FIGC presidency, Demetrio
Albertini, the former AC Milan and Italian national team
midfielder, who met with Malagò Thursday morning.
Albertini said he had not discussed with Malagò the
possibility of the FIGC being placed under the leadership of a
"commissioner" in the wake of the controversy.
"I repeated that this was not necessary since there are
two candidates," said Albertini. "I spoke to Carlo (Tavecchio)
yesterday, it seems absolutely right that he should carry on".
But the Torino Chairman Urbano Cairo joined the growing
chorus of those who see Tavecchio as beyond the pale.
"Tavecchio can no longer be a candidate," Cairo told la
Repubblica newspaper. "We don't support him any more because his
candidature has become controversial.
"That doesn't mean that we'll go over to Albertini's side,
we need to review the whole governance of our football".
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