Andrea Pirlo says he is no longer in the running to coach Italy’s national team after days of criticism over his association with a Russian betting firm.
His appointment had not been officially confirmed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) but was widely viewed as a near certainty.
Over the weekend, several Italian politicians condemned the prospective choice, pointing out that the 47-year-old had become a global ambassador for Russia’s Fonbet last October.
Within hours, the turmoil widened. Sky Sport Italia reported that two senior FIGC figures, Paolo Maldini and Leonardo, had decided to resign.
Maldini had been named FIGC technical director just over two weeks earlier. He and former Brazil international Leonardo, his adviser and ex-AC Milan teammate, were charged with selecting a new head coach and rebuilding the squad after three consecutive World Cup qualification failures.
Pirlo’s candidacy faltered amid scrutiny of his links to Fonbet, which has sponsored sporting events involving veterans of Moscow’s war in Ukraine and staged functions in Russia where Pirlo appeared alongside pro-Kremlin figures.
“Anyone who is or has been promoting Russia after 2022 should not hold national office,” said Carlo Calenda of the centrist Azione party.
“After learning last night that I am no longer a candidate for the Italian national team, I feel it is my duty to clarify some aspects,” Pirlo wrote on Instagram on Monday, noting he had watched “with great bitterness” as debate swirled around his name. He said any professional collaboration he undertook while coaching United FC in Dubai was “exclusively of a commercial and sporting nature.”
“To assign a political meaning to that collaboration means ascribing to me beliefs which I have never expressed and that do not belong to me,” he added.
Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, argued that Italian football “desperately need[s] a cultural, ethical and managerial revolution,” saying Pirlo’s selection “goes in the exact opposite direction.”
By contrast, Russia’s ambassador in Rome, Aleksey Paramonov, offered support, calling it “saddening” that despite Pirlo’s “extraordinary contribution to world sport and to Italy’s image,” he was being ostracized at home.
Scrutiny of Pirlo’s Russia ties intensified last spring when he attended a Fonbet event in Moscow, signing autographs at Luzhniki Stadium with former teammate Marco Materazzi. Nationalist pop star Shaman, a vocal supporter of the invasion of Ukraine, performed at the same event.
Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych noted the Luzhniki gathering coincided with a major Russian attack on Ukraine and criticized Pirlo for appearing alongside Russian footballer Artem Dzyuba, who had posted he was “proud to be Russian.” “It’s sad to see childhood legends turn into moral bankrupts,” Heraskevych said.
Italian football has been engaged in soul-searching after missing a third straight World Cup earlier this year. A penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia-Herzegovina in April prompted coach Gennaro Gattuso to resign and triggered a wider reshuffle at the FIGC.
Earlier this month, the federation unsuccessfully approached Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti before moving toward Pirlo.
According to Italian media, other candidates now under consideration include Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini, who won Euro 2020 with Italy before failing to reach the World Cup in Qatar and later departing to coach Saudi Arabia.