Italian soccer turned a page in its bid to move beyond its match-fixing scandal Thursday with the appointment of a new administrator .
The Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), which runs all Italian sport, named deputy CONI head Luca Pancalli special commissioner of the Italian Soccer Federation (FIGC) .
Luca Pancalli, 42, a former Special Olympics swimming star who has been confined to a wheelchair since a showjumping accident when he was 17, takes over from Guido Rossi who resigned Monday after being named head of Telecom Italia .
CONI chief Gianni Petrucci said Pancalli, who is also head of the Italian Paralympic Committee, would work "in complete autonomy" and stressed that Italian Sports Minister Giovanna Melandri, a firm backer of Rossi, endorsed the choice .
"We have to be firm and optimistic," Petrucci said .
"There have been problems but we don't always have to show dramatic things" .
Pancalli said that, as a former athlete who won seven gold medals and nine silvers in Paralympics from 1984 to 1996, he was "already training to win the race" CONI also appointed two deputy commissioners: soccer legend Gigi Riva and legal expert Massimo Coccia .
Riva, who has been the leading Azzurri minder for 25 years, will work with the national teams while Coccia, who held the FIGC post for two days after Rossi's resignation, will be tasked with drafting new regulations .
Rossi quit without putting forward recommendations for reform, saying he had met opposition to his ideas. The new FIGC team, which will be in place until February, will "work to build a season that is no longer dark but sunny, to restore hope," Pancalli said .
"Our one goal is to bring back serenity," said Pancalli, who stressed the importance of persuading former Clean Hands spearhead Francesco Saverio Borrelli to return to the FIGC inquiry office .
Borrelli quit as the FIGC's top investigator on Wednesday, complaining of limited powers .
But Cocci, the two-day interim chief, prevailed on him to take a few days to mull over his decision in view of the appointment of the new commissioner .
Pancalli said his immediate priority would be to get Borrelli back .
Riva, an Azzurri icon who scored a record 35 goals in 42 internationals, said he wanted "more respect for players and coaches" .
"Winning the World Cup showed the integrity of those who take the field," said Riva, who played an important part in the Azzurri's victorious campaign at Germany 2006 .
Two days after the World Cup, Riva complained that soccer authorities had left the team "alone, though now and then someone would come and pat us on the back" .
"FIGC doesn't exist anymore, now there are those ghosts who decide everything," he said .
Melandri, the sports minister, issued a statement saying she was "delighted" with the appointment of Pancalli, who is also secretary-general of the European Paralympic Committee .
She hailed him as "a young administrator with wide-ranging managerial skills and unchallenged experience," as well as "a legal expert who showed great organisational ability with the (Winter) Paralympics (in Turin)" .
Despite his credentials, Pancalli may have a hard job persuading Borrelli to return, observers said. When he quit on Wednesday, the respected former criminal prosecutor said he felt obliged to stand down after the resignation of Rossi, a corporate law and turnaround expert initially charged with cleaning up the 'Calciopoli' mess .
He also complained that the powers of his office were "extremely modest" .
Borrelli, 76, was handpicked by Rossi, 75, to pursue the FIGC probes that led to penalties for clubs, referees and officials including the relegation of Italian champions Juventus and a five-year ban for its ex-general manager, Luciano Moggi, Calciopoli's alleged ringleader .
Experts said Borrelli was unhappy with the FIGC inquiry office's heavy dependence on criminal prosecutors and inability to act effectively on its own, especially in probing financial issues .
They also said the ex-Clean Hands spearhead believed only a figure with the clout of Rossi could withstand vested interests within the Italian soccer world who were against root-and-branch reform .
In his own resignation letter, Rossi said he had "gradually realised", during his four-month stint, that "everything (or almost everything) was against real renewal" .
In a surprise move, Rossi quit without putting forward the keenly awaited proposals for soccer reform he had been working on .
These reportedly included ways to rein in soccer spending and better regulate the transfer and TV rights markets, possibly via a new government authority .
Prosecutors in three Italian cities are pursuing criminal probes into various aspects of the soccer scandal .
Meanwhile, the clubs found guilty in the FIGC probe are expected to have their penalties eased for the second time .
In talks with CONI due to end this month, Juventus is looking to have a 17-point handicap cut to about -6 .
In Serie A, Fiorentina is hoping for a similar reduction, to about -8, while Lazio and AC Milan may see their 11 and 8-point handicaps cut by half .
