Former professional footballer Damiano Tommasi is set to be the next mayor of the Italian city of Verona, after being backed by 53% of voters in a weekend run-off vote.
Tommasi represented centre-left parties and had been up against a right-wing candidate. The AS Roma player's win ends 15 years of centre-right rule in the city.
Centre-left candidates also enjoyed wins in Catanzaro in the south and Parma and Monza in the north. The elections were not nationwide, but only in selected communities. The clear loser was the populist Five Star Movement, which seemed to be descending into disarray after Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio quit the party last week.
