Italy’s soccer boss fires coach, but won’t quit

ROME — Two days after Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup, the head of the country’s football federation fired national coach Gian Piero Ventura — while ignoring angry calls to quit his own job.

Ventura left in disgrace Wednesday, widely criticized for his tactical decisions that left Italy out of football’s biggest competition for the first time in six decades.

“I spoke with Ventura today and told him that his services are no longer needed,” federation president Carlo Tavecchio said in a brief statement to reporters, adding that he would propose a series of reforms to improve the country’s most popular sport.

Four-time champion Italy lost a playoff to Sweden, 1-0 on aggregate, on Monday.

Ventura’s contract was recently extended to 2020 but the deal included a stipulation that it could be voided in case of a failed qualification.

Carlo Ancelotti, who was fired by Bayern Munich in September, was being mentioned by Italian media as a likely replacement but no new coach was immediately named. “We also thought about some important coaches and we’ll try to possibly sign one of them,” Tavecchio said.

Damiano Tommasi, president of the Italian players association, abandoned a summit called to assess the failed qualification once he understood that Tavecchio would not step down.

“We believe we’ve got to start the rebuilding process with elections,” Tommasi said.