Pirlo withdraws from consideration
Andrea Pirlo has stated he is no longer a candidate to become the head coach of the Italian national side. This decision follows a period of controversy surrounding his connections to a Russian betting company. Although his appointment had not been officially confirmed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), it was widely anticipated.
Criticism from several Italian politicians emerged over the weekend regarding the FIGC’s choice, highlighting Pirlo’s role as a global ambassador for Russia’s Fonbet since October. Pirlo, a former midfielder for Internazionale, Juventus, AC Milan, and the Azzurri, addressed the situation in an Instagram post on Monday morning.
He expressed his disappointment over the debate surrounding his name, stating that any professional collaboration he undertook in his capacity as coach for United FC in Dubai was solely of a commercial and sporting nature. Pirlo emphasized that attributing political meaning to this collaboration assigned beliefs to him that he has never expressed and that do not align with his views.
The scrutiny of Pirlo’s ties to Fonbet intensified last spring when he participated in a Fonbet event in Moscow. During this event, he and former teammate Marco Materazzi signed autographs at Luzhniki Stadium. Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych criticized Pirlo for appearing alongside pro-Kremlin figures, including nationalist pop star Shaman and Russian footballer Artem Dzyuba.
FIGC resignations and coaching search
The controversy surrounding Pirlo’s potential appointment led to further upheaval within Italian football. Paolo Maldini and Leonardo, two senior figures in the FIGC, have resigned from their roles. Maldini had been appointed FIGC technical director just over two weeks prior, with Leonardo serving as his adviser and former AC Milan teammate.
Their resignations occurred just 16 days after their official appointments. Maldini and Leonardo were tasked with finding a new head coach and rebuilding the team after the Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive tournament. The decision not to proceed with Pirlo as head coach was made on Sunday due to concerns over his links to the Russian gambling firm.
Before considering Pirlo, the FIGC had approached both Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti. Maldini and Leonardo met with Guardiola over three days in Barcelona, presenting an extensive project that aimed to rebuild Italian football from the ground up, involving all national teams. However, Guardiola rejected the proposal for personal reasons.
Ancelotti was also contacted, but he has a contract with the Brazil national team. The head coach position has been vacant since Gennaro Gattuso’s departure, which followed Italy’s loss on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina in April. According to Italian media, other names currently being considered for the role include Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini.
Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, commented that Italian football was in desperate need of a cultural, ethical, and managerial revolution, suggesting that the choice of Pirlo would have moved in the opposite direction. In contrast, Russian ambassador Aleksey Paramonov offered support to Pirlo, stating it was saddening that he was being ostracized in his own country despite his contributions to world sport.
The Italian football community has been undergoing significant introspection after the team’s third consecutive failure to qualify for the World Cup earlier this year. The resignations of Maldini and Leonardo have created an immediate crisis for the newly appointed FIGC president Giovanni Malago, leaving the federation without a clear national team strategy.
The turmoil adds to a difficult period for Italian football, which has also seen early European exits for Italian clubs last season. The resignations compound a sense of instability that has gripped the federation in recent months, raising questions about the entire process of rebuilding the national team.
Roberto Mancini, who led Italy to Euro 2020 glory before failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar and stepping down to coach Saudi Arabia, is among the alternative candidates now being linked with the vacant head coach position.
Source: bbc.com
