New Delhi, July 27 (IANS) Former Italy international Andrea Pirlo has confirmed he is no longer in contention to become Italy’s national team coach after criticism over his commercial association with Russian betting company Fonbet led to opposition against his potential appointment.
The 47-year-old World Cup winner has reportedly become one of the main candidates to replace Gennaro Gattuso after Pep Guardiola declined the role. However, Pirlo’s candidacy faced serious scrutiny because of his role as a global ambassador for the Russian bookmaker Fonbet. This raised objections from officials within the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) and several Italian lawmakers.
Breaking his silence on Monday, Pirlo shared that he had been informed the night before that he was no longer under consideration for the position and defended his professional conduct. “After learning last night that I am no longer the candidate to lead the Italian national team, I believe it is my duty to clarify a few points,” Pirlo wrote on Instagram.
“Over the past few days, I have watched with great bitterness the debate that has developed around my name and the possibility of taking on the role of Head Coach of the Italian national team.” The former midfielder, who currently manages United FC in Dubai’s UAE Pro League, emphasised that he has always operated within the law throughout his playing and coaching career.
“Throughout my career, first as a player and now as a coach, I have always carried out my work in full compliance with the laws of the countries where I have worked and with the contracts I have signed,” he said. Pirlo signed an ambassadorial agreement with Fonbet in October and insisted that the partnership was purely commercial and sporting in nature.
“To assign a political meaning to that collaboration is to attribute to me beliefs that I have never expressed and that do not belong to me,” he added. The controversy surrounding Pirlo grew after he appeared with former Italy teammate Marco Materazzi at a Fonbet-organised event at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, attracting criticism amid Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
Pirlo also received public support from Russia’s ambassador to Italy, Alexey Paramonov, who criticised the backlash against Pirlo’s association with the company.
“It is saddening to see that, despite your extraordinary contribution to world sport and to Italy’s image abroad, in your own country you are now the subject of ostracism by an establishment that many describe as ‘pseudo-democratic’; a fate that, moreover, has already befallen thousands of Russian athletes, conductors, musicians, artists, and film directors in recent years,” Paramonov wrote in a letter to Pirlo posted on Facebook.
With Pirlo now out of the running, the search for Italy’s next head coach continues. FIGC technical director Paolo Maldini, the former AC Milan and Italy defender who took on the role earlier this month, is leading the effort to find a coach who will guide the four-time world champions in their bid to qualify for the 2030 FIFA World Cup after missing the last three editions of the tournament.
–IANS
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