Italy coach Gian Piero Ventura has been dismissed after the team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the Italian football federation (FIGC) said in a statement Wednesday, according to dpa. The Azzurri drew 0-0 with Sweden in Milan Monday, which meant the Scandinavians won the play-off 1-0 on aggregate and qualified for next June's finals in Russia. Four-times winners Italy last missed the World Cup in 1958. FIGC president Carlo Tavecchio is set to stay in his post despite fans and pundits demanding his resignation along with the sacking of Ventura. Damiano Tommasi, the head of the Italian footballers' association, was quoted by ANSA as saying: "Carlo Tavecchio has told us he does not intend to resign. (But) it is impossible not to start over with a new election." Ventura, 69, took over the Azzurri squad in 2016 when Antonio Conte moved to Chelsea after losing to Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals of the European Championship. Fans knew the team was in a transitional phase but still expected the once-mighty football nation to progress to the World Cup. Ventura had been a controversial appointment by Tavecchio given he had only coached lesser lights in Serie A, namely Cagliari, Udinese, Messina, Bari and Torino. Media reports say FIGC is considering approaching either former Bayern Munich coach Carlo Ancelotti or Nantes boss Claudio Ranieri for the job. Tavecchio, 74, replaced Giancarlo Abete, who resigned along with coach Cesare Prandelli after Italy exited in the group phase at the 2014 World Cup. A few weeks before being elected, he made a racist remark about African footballers, which led to a six-month suspension from European body UEFA and world association FIFA.
