His is not a front page name, the kind that stands out among the newspaper headlines. At least he wasn’t until today, who has become the man pushing for Italy’s “repeat” at the 2026 World Cup. Let’s talk about Paolo Zampolli. His proposal to FIFA to replace Iran, in the event of a forfeit given the delicate international situation, with the Italian national team (expelled due to demerits on the pitch). We better understand who he is and why he has the “power” to make this request (which we explain here).
Who is Paolo Zampolli
Zampolli is an Italian-American entrepreneur born in Milan in 1970, but transplanted to New York. In the 1990s, he founded the ID Models agency in New York. Thanks to this activity he introduced his wife Melania to Trump. In addition to his fashion and real estate businesses, Zampolli has held diplomatic positions, serving as ambassador to the United Nations for the Caribbean island of Dominica.
Today he is a special envoy of the Trump administration. Reuters cites him as a node in the informal but influential network that gravitates around the American president with the profile of an “atypical” mediator. The Financial Times speaks of Zampolli as one of the “facilitators” of Trumpian transactional diplomacy, so much so that his name is linked to the slogan “20 billion in 20 minutes”, a formula that summarizes his idea of rapid mediation between political leaders, large companies and strategic interests.
The Roman lunch with Conte
Zampolli’s name has returned to the center of attention in recent weeks due to the meeting that took place between him and former prime minister Giuseppe Conte which sparked political and media fuss.
“The meeting took place – Conte clarified – at the specific request of Mr. Zampolli, made with a formal letter in which he exhibited his credentials as ‘Special Envoy of the President Trump for Global Partnerships’. As leader of an opposition party I decided to accept the invitation to this meeting and, having no secrets of any kind, I myself preferred that it take place in a public place, in a restaurant in the center of Rome”.
“To Zampolli – he added – I explained my positions and those of the M5S in foreign policy. So no change of position. On the contrary. Maximum clarity: I instructed Zampolli to tell President Trump on my behalf that I consider these attacks on Iran completely contrary to international law, for which they must be firmly condemned and, as far as I can tell, they can never have the support of Italy”.
Zampolli himself reported a “very easy” meeting. We hadn’t seen each other for a couple of years, but we talk every now and then and ours was not a meeting that was part of my mission”.