Earlier this week we reported that Italy were moving toward Andrea Pirlo on a four-year deal. By Monday morning, that picture had collapsed. Andrea Pirlo said he was no longer a candidate, while Paolo Maldini and Leonardo were already out after 16 days, leaving the federation back where it started, only with less credibility than before.
This is the bigger problem for Italy now. Pirlo dropping out was not just one failed appointment. It exposed how thin the federation's reset was once the first plan changed.
The 16-day reset that fell apart
Paolo Maldini was named technical director on 11 July. Sixteen days later, both Maldini and Leonardo had quit the Italian Football Federation.
That timeline is brutal on its own. Maldini and Leonardo had been brought in to lead a long-term overhaul and help find the next head coach, with Italy needing to get through a Nations League group that includes France, Belgium and Turkey. Instead, the new structure barely lasted two weeks.
The wider backdrop is even worse. Italy are trying to reset after failing to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive tournament. A federation in that position cannot really afford to look improvised, yet that is exactly how this search now reads.
Giovanni Malagò did not try to soften the damage. Speaking to football-italia.net, he said: "You have to look at who made the bad impression"
He struck a longer-term tone elsewhere, also telling football-italia.net: "We must recover our credibility at the top level, where nothing can be taken for granted, and that means working with lads who are right now around 13-16 years of age"
That is a sensible point about development, but it also underlines how far the federation has drifted from the immediate issue. Italy still need a senior coach, and the people hired to shape that process have already gone.
Pirlo's candidacy and the Fonbet backlash
Andrea Pirlo announced on Monday morning that he was no longer a candidate for the Italy job. That much is clear. What remains less tidy is whether the Fonbet controversy was the decisive reason he was ruled out or one major factor in a process that was already unstable.
The backlash was serious enough to make it impossible to brush aside. Pirlo had signed an ambassadorial agreement with Fonbet in October and took part in a Fonbet event in Moscow last spring. Carlo Calenda told bbc.co.uk: "Anyone who is or has been promoting Russia after 2022 should not hold national office"
There was support from the other side too. Aleksey Paramonov, the Russian ambassador to Italy, told football-italia.net: "We stand in sincere solidarity with you" He also described Pirlo's ambassadorial role as "undoubtedly a great honour for any country or organisation"
Some of the reporting around the search suggests the situation was messier than a single-issue collapse. Giancarlo Abete told football-italia.net: "The appointment was evidently based on this contact with Guardiola and when he had a good possibility of taking the role, but when that faltered, they turned to Pirlo"
That version fits the broader sequence. Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti were both contacted before Pirlo emerged as the leading candidate, even if accounts differ on which approach came first. Italy had already worked through bigger names before landing on a faster, more contentious solution.
My read is that the Fonbet issue became the point where the move stopped being manageable. But the bigger indictment is structural. A stable federation does not get this deep into a coaching process before the political, ethical and reputational questions properly hit.
What Italy are left with now
Italy are still searching, and that is the most damaging fact in all of this. The federation have not completed Pirlo's hiring, have not appointed a replacement, and have already burned through one attempted reset.
The names around the job have shifted quickly in recent weeks. Roberto Mancini remains part of the wider conversation around Italy's future, while other candidates such as Antonio Conte, Stefano Pioli and Raffaele Palladino have also been discussed in the broader landscape. None of that changes the central problem: the process itself has become the story.
Malagò's argument about rebuilding credibility is probably the right one, but credibility is not rebuilt by talking about it. Italy need a cleaner search, a clearer chain of responsibility and a coach appointment that does not collapse in public. For now, the federation heads into August still looking for its next manager after Pirlo ruled himself out on Monday.
FAQ
Why did Andrea Pirlo drop out of the Italy coach race?
Andrea Pirlo announced on Monday morning that he was no longer a candidate for the Italy job. His ambassadorial agreement with Fonbet and an appearance at a Moscow event last spring triggered political and public backlash, which became a major obstacle. Some reporting suggests other factors also shaped the collapse, but the Fonbet issue clearly turned the process into a wider moral and political problem for the federation.
Did Paolo Maldini resign from the Italian federation?
Reports agree that Paolo Maldini and Leonardo were out after 16 days, though there has been some disagreement over whether they had formally resigned or only made clear that they intended to quit before the process was completed. What is not in dispute is the timescale: Maldini was appointed technical director on 11 July, and the new structure fell apart almost immediately.
How serious is Italy's current FIGC coaching crisis?
It is serious because the collapse of Pirlo's expected move has happened alongside the rapid breakdown of the federation's new structure. Italy are still searching for a coach, Maldini and Leonardo lasted only 16 days, and the reset is taking place after three straight World Cup qualification failures. The issue is no longer just one appointment, but the credibility of the whole process.
Who did Italy try before turning to Pirlo?
Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola were both contacted before Pirlo emerged as the leading candidate. Sources differ on which of those approaches came first, but the broader point is clear enough: Italy had already worked through bigger names before Pirlo came into focus, and his withdrawal has sent the search back into uncertainty.
Written by Sam Whitfield with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
