AFP, Milan

The head of Italy’s football federation (FIGC), Gabriele Gravina, resigned on Thursday, falling on his sword after the men’s national team failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup.

Gravina revealed he would step down following a meeting held at the FIGC’s headquarters in Rome.

Italy fell at the playoffs again on Tuesday, this time after a penalty shootout against Bosnia and Herzegovina and will miss this summer’s finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The shock waves of the latest humiliation for one of the world’s most important football nations forced Gravina, 72, to go back on his initial plans to wait until a FIGC board meeting next week to announce a decision on his future.

The FIGC said in a statement a vote for a new president will be held on June 22 with Giovanni Malago, the former long-time head of the Italian Olympic Committee who was president of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics organisation committee, among the names in the hat.

Gravina’s resignation also means Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso could resign, as it was Gravina who asked the 2006 World Cup winner to stay on beyond the end of his current contract, which expires in the summer.