Abete was selected at a federation board meeting, a day after previous commissioner Mario Cicala resigned from the job.
Abete ran the federation from 2007 to 2014 and was also a vice president of UEFA.
The Italian league is under emergency leadership again since it has failed to elect a new president in three different votes this month. Another vote is scheduled for next month.
Gaetano Miccichè resigned as president last month following an investigation into his election last year.
The failed elections come amid a Serie A season marred by multiple cases of racism and with the league divided over the assignment of TV rights.
Lega Serie A, which runs the top Italian league, had been without a president for almost a year before Miccichè was elected, with Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malago then acting as emergency commissioner.