Italy thrown into further crisis, as Pirlo denied and Maldini resigns

ROME — Andrea Pirlo is out of contention for the Italy job amid political concerns over a sponsorship deal with a Russian betting firm, a decision that has thrown Italian soccer into further crisis.

The flap over Pirlo has resulted in Paolo Maldini stepping down from his position as technical director at the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) after just 16 days in the role, taking his special adviser Leonardo, a former Brazil international, with him.

Maldini was appointed on July 11 to help rebuild the Italian national side after it failed to qualify for a third successive World Cup.

One of his first tasks was to help identify a successor to Gennaro Gattuso, whose departure after Italy's World Cup qualification playoff defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina in March left the coaching position vacant.

It all comes after Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti had already turned down offers to coach the national team.

Pirlo himself confirmed that he was out of the running in an Instagram post Monday, saying he "heard last night that I'm no longer the candidate for the Italy national team job".

Several Italian politicians had raised concerns about Pirlo's contract to act as an ambassador for Fonbet, saying the national team coach should not have views opposed to those of Italy in its support for Ukraine in the conflict with Russia.

Third choice

Pirlo, who had been prepared to leave his current job as coach of Dubai United, was an unpopular choice after unsuccessful stints coaching Juventus and Sampdoria — despite having been one of the standout players when Italy last won the World Cup in 2006.

Pirlo said the Fonbet deal was linked to his job in the United Arab Emirates and is "exclusively for commercial and sports" purposes.

"Attributing a political significance to that collaboration means attributing beliefs to me that I have never expressed and don't belong to me," Pirlo added.

"My love for Italy doesn't depend on a job. It's part of my history, my identity and it will remain forever."

Pirlo was at best a third choice, but was preferred by his former AC Milan teammate Maldini ahead of former Italy coaches Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte, because he was seen as someone more willing to adapt to new policies and promote younger players in an attack-minded system.

The double departure of Maldini and Leonardo creates an even greater problem for newly appointed FIGC President Giovanni Malago, who took the job in June after leading the Milano-Cortina Olympics organizing committee and, previously, the Italian Olympic Committee.

It leaves the federation without a clear national team strategy and at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years, coming on the heels of early European exits for Italian clubs last season and its latest World Cup qualification failure.

Mancini and Conte

However, it puts both Mancini and Conte back in the running for the head coach position.

Mancini coached Italy to the European Championship title in 2021, but failed to get the Azzurri to the following year's World Cup, before bolting to take over Saudi Arabia's national team. He left Saudi Arabia in 2024 and was most recently coach at Al-Sadd in Qatar.

Conte coached Italy to the quarterfinals of Euro 2016 and was most recently at Napoli.

Whoever gets hired will be Italy's fourth coach in as many years.

When Luciano Spalletti was fired after Italy lost its opening World Cup qualifier to Norway last year, Claudio Ranieri turned down an offer to replace him and the much less experienced Gattuso was hired instead.

Italy next plays in September, when it will face Belgium and Turkiye in the Nations League.

AP