Gianna Tofanari Wiki, Gigi Riva Wife, Age, Children, Parents, Net Worth

Gianna Tofanari is well known as the wife of late Gigi Riva who was Italy’s all-time top goalscorer and former Cagliari forward. On 22 January 2024, he passed away at the age of 79 in a hospital in Sardinia’s capital after suffering a heart attack over the weekend. Cagliari wrote “Forever GIGI RIVA” in a post on X. 

Per sempre GIGI RIVA 🖤 pic.twitter.com/ws8CePoGJ4

— Cagliari Calcio (@CagliariCalcio) January 22, 2024

Cagliari said,  

“He was the greatest of them all. Without comparisons or possible comparisons. The best Italian striker in history. And one of the deadliest gunners who ever lived. His name was Gigi Riva, also known as Rombo di Tuono.

“A formidable footballer, an upright sportsman, a bearer of crystalline values and principles. A true legend, a timeless myth. An icon of Sardinia, his adopted land, to which he was bound by visceral love. He passed away today at the age of 79. A sad day for us and for all of world football.”

Gabriele Gravina (Italian Football Federation president) said, 

“Italian soccer is grieving because a real and proper national hero has left us. Gigi Riva was the embodiment of a great man and an extraordinary footballer.”

Cagliari boss Claudio Ranieri told the club website, 

“It’s the news I never wanted to hear. It caught me off guard, shocked me, and I’m speechless. Gigi’s passing leaves an unfillable void in all of us.”

Gianna Tofanari Wiki, Gigi Riva Wife, Age, Children, Parents, Net Worth

Gianna Tofanari is known as the partner or wife of late football legend Gigi Riva. She was born in Cagliari, Italy. Gianna Tofanari’s nationality is Italian but her date of birth, parents’ details, education, and other details are not known.

Gigi met her and fell in love with her while she was already married. They continued their relationship and after the divorce of Gianna, Gigi and Gianna never married. He told in an interview with Corriere della Sera, 

“It was 1968, divorce didn’t yet exist. It was a huge thing for those times. They put me on the cover of Stop and Novella 2000. I fell madly in love with it. She was already separated but she had a husband. So they called her the “Blonde Lady” and when I went through moments of crisis, they wrote that it was her fault, the femme fatale. Nonsense. Gianna became my wife and she gave me two children.”

However, Gigi always referred to her as his wife but they never married. He explained why the two then decided not to get married,

“But can you imagine what happens if two get married?  I wasn’t the type who stayed at home in my pajamas. When I stopped playing, the commitments as team manager. I was always away.”

Gigi and Gianna were blessed with two children Nicola and Mauro who made them the grandparents of 5 grandchildren. 

Nicola’s first daughter Virginia Riva would like to become a sports journalist and she said in a recent internet about Gigi Riva, 

“All of us grandchildren have a special relationship with him, he is always present for us. Personally, when I have to make some important decisions, he is the light that illuminates me. Even now that I am in Spain for this internship, he is helping me a lot, like when I went to the United States at 16 to better learn the languages ​​I was studying. I have a special relationship with my grandfather: when I was little he came to visit me at home every evening, bringing me a different gift each time. I was lucky enough to be the first grandchild. Our relationship is one of few words but of intense and profound looks: I perceive from his eyes the great affection he has in his heart.”