Cesare Bovo Cavaliere OMRI (born 14 January 1983) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a centre back.

[4] In 2002, he was sold in co-ownership to Lecce (swapped with Mauro Rizzo), where he remained for two years and made his debut in Serie A on 5 October 2003 in Lecce–Brescia (1–4).

[6] On 31 July 2004 he moved to Parma in temporary deal for €100,000, as part of the signing of defender Matteo Ferrari,[7] where he showed good performances, such that[citation needed] Palermo bought half of his contract on 31 August 2004 for €1.5 million (in pure player exchange: Francesco Milano and Paolo Comi)[8][9] Even this season he scored 2 goals in the league, equaling his record.

The transfer of Bovo, Gianluca Curci, Simone Pepe and Valerio Virga were also accused uneconomical, and were compensation to Maurizio Zamparini for the acquirement of Palermo from Franco Sensi.,[10] which Roma denied,[11] despite the sales of 4 players only received one thousand and five hundred euro cash plus half of the registration rights of two reserve players Comi and Milano.

[12] His presence on the field was often limited by competition from Cristian Chivu, Philippe Mexès and Samuel Kuffour, such that the coach Luciano Spalletti often deployed him as a full-back.

After the insistence of the president of Palermo, Maurizio Zamparini, who had declared his intention to redeem at all costs the remaining contract of Bovo,[citation needed] the transfer of the defender in rosanero materialised in June 2006 for €2.05 million; while Virga returned to Roma for €50,000.

[16] After the end of the loan he returned to Palermo, however, shortly after he was bought by Genoa, led by Gian Piero Gasperini, on 10 July 2007 in co-ownership bid for €2.85 million.

In the 2011–12 season, after playing the two matches of the third qualifying round of the Europa League against the Swiss FC Thun, he left the rosaneri after a total of 108 appearances and 8 goals.

[32][33] On 13 January 2012 Genoa acquired full ownership of the player for pre-agreed €1.3M[30] and sold half of the registration rights of goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano to Palermo for €5M.

On 28 August 2010 he was called up to the senior national team by the new coach Cesare Prandelli, for matches against Estonia and Faroe Islands, during the qualifications for the UEFA Euro 2012[42][43] without ever taking to the field.

[44][47][48] After retirement, Bovo joined Fabio Liverani's coaching staff at Lecce as a technical collaborator for the 2019–20 Serie A season.

In the summer of 2023, he returned to Palermo, joining Eugenio Corini's first team coaching staff, then staying on also under new manager Michele Mignani and eventually leaving by the end of the 2023–24 season.