Maldini quits Italy FA after 16 days over Pirlo links
Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- Paolo Maldini and his adviser Leonardo quit the FIGC after just 16 days in their roles, triggered by the federation's decision not to appoint Andrea Pirlo as Italy head coach.
- Andrea Pirlo was ruled out because of his role as global ambassador for Russian bookmaker Fonbet — a deal signed in October — which drew objections from FIGC officials and politicians given the ongoing war in Ukraine.
- Pirlo defended the Fonbet partnership on Instagram, calling it "exclusively commercial and sporting" and rejecting any political interpretation; he currently manages UAE Pro League club United FC in Dubai.
- Pep Guardiola met with Maldini and Leonardo over three days in Barcelona for a wider "Azzurro project" spanning all Italian national teams, but turned down the job for personal reasons beyond football.
- The FIGC was willing to make an "exceptional adjustment" to its budget to hire Guardiola, and Carlo Ancelotti was also contacted before him but remains contracted to the Brazil national team.
- The vacancy has been open since Gennaro Gattuso's departure and comes amid Italy's failure to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup — the crisis the Maldini-Leonardo shake-up was meant to fix.
Why it matters: The entire FIGC leadership overhaul designed to rescue Italian football after a third consecutive World Cup qualification failure has collapsed in under three weeks, leaving Italy without a head coach and now without its senior technical director either.
