Giancarlo Abete (born 26 August 1950) is an Italian politician and sport director. Formerly a member of the Italian parliament, Abete is now the third vice president of

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

. Abete also served positions in the

FIGC The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

before being admitted to UEFA in 2009.

Early life

Abete was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy. As entrepreneur, he went to

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome ( it, Sapienza – Università di Roma), also called simply Sapienza or the University of Rome, and formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", is a Public university, public research university l ...

and earned a degree in Economics and Commerce.

Career

In politics

He sat in the

Italian Parliament The Italian Parliament ( it, Parlamento italiano) is the national parliament of the Italian Republic. It is the representative body of Italian citizens and is the successor to the Parliament of the Kingdom of Italy (1861–1943), the transitiona ...

from 1979 to 1992, among the ranks of the

Christian Democracy Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

. He stayed there for 20 years before deciding to go elsewhere in 1992. In 1994, Abete was elected as the president of the Rome entrepreneurs association which he served as until 2000. Abete served as the head of Rome's tourist board from 1999 to 2003.

In football

Abete first became involved in the

in 1989. He later became president of the

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

and the association's vice president from 1996 to 2000 and again from 2001 to 2006. He was head of the Italian delegation when Italy won the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

. Abete was elected president of the FIGC in April 2007. In 2009, Abete was admitted to UEFA in 2009 and became a vice president in 2011. Abete stepped down from his position of president of the FIGC in 2014, but he still continues to be a vice president of UEFA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abete, Giancarlo 20th-century Italian politicians 1950 births Living people Members of the UEFA Executive Committee Italian football chairmen and investors Sapienza University of Rome alumni Politicians from Rome