Italy's Olympic committee man new Federation head

ROME, Sep 21 (Reuters) Italy's national Olympic Committee (CONI) has appointed their own vice-president Luca Pancalli as the new head of the Italian Football Federation.

Pancalli replaces Guido Rossi, the emergency commissioner who resigned this week after becoming president of Telecom Italia.

Rossi was charged with cleaning up Italian football following the match-fixing scandal which ended with Juventus being demoted to Serie B and three other clubs receiving hefty penalty points.

The last elected president of the Federation was Franco Carraro who resigned in the midst of the scandal.

The appointment of Pancalli, who is also president of Italy's Paralympic committee, effectively confirms that the Federation remains, for the time being, under the direct control of the Olympic committee.

Reuters PM DS1452