Italian FA president quits after World Cup failure

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Italy's soccer federation president Carlo Tavecchio has became the second major casualty of the Azzurri's failure to qualify for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 60 years.

Carlo Tavecchio resigned amid eroding support on Monday, a week after the play-off loss to Sweden and five days after he fired national team coach Gian Piero Ventura.

"At this point the problem is very simple," Tavecchio, 74, said. "We have missed out on the World Cup. Carlo Tavecchio is very upset about this, not as FA president, but as Carlo as Italian fan. Is this a moment of weakness, is this emotion becoming a tragedy? Is this the philosophy behind a sports system, behind a community, behind people working to produce better?"

Gianluigi Buffon cries after Italy was beaten by Sweden 1-0 on aggregate in the two-legged qualification play-off for the 2018 World Cup. /VCG Photo

Four-time champion Italy finished second in the 2018 World Cup qualifying group behind Spain, but were then beaten by Sweden 1-0 on aggregate in the two-legged play-off.

For the last week, Tavecchio had resisted calls to step down but he eventually lost the support of the federation's board of directors.

"... This system, this culture, this politics, this management can no longer continue like this. Reforms cannot be done just for a football pitch measuring 120 by 60 meters, but at a general systemic level," Tavecchio said.

He was elected to succeed Giancarlo Abete in 2014, despite a racist comment during his election campaign.