Maldini Threatens Departure from FIGC Over Pirlo Appointment Controversy
Paolo Maldini is on a collision course with the FIGC. The former Milan captain and current technical director has, according to Corriere della Sera via Guillaume Pacini, threatened to walk away from his role after the federation’s mishandling of Andrea Pirlo’s almost-appointment as Italy coach.
Pirlo had been all but locked in as the new manager of the men’s national team. The FIGC moved towards him, the media followed, and the sense was that a new era would be built around one of the most elegant midfielders the country has produced. Then the backlash hit.
The problem was never hidden. Pirlo’s work as a global ambassador for Fonbet, a Russian betting company, has been public for some time. His involvement has included appearances alongside pro-Kremlin figures at events involving Russian veterans of the ongoing war in Ukraine. For a federation trying to present a modern, credible face to the world, it was a storm waiting to break.
It broke hard.
The appointment, once seen as a formality, collapsed under the weight of criticism. What should have been a smooth passing of the torch instead exposed a federation that had not done its political homework, or chose to ignore it.
Inside the FIGC, the fallout has been severe. Maldini, brought in to shape the sporting project and steer Italy into a new cycle, now looks highly unlikely to stay in his post. Il Messaggero, again via Pacini, reports that if he does remain, it will be on his terms alone: he would demand absolute control over the choice of Pirlo’s successor.
That is a remarkable power play at the heart of Italian football. The federation has already absorbed significant reputational damage. Losing Maldini on top of that would deepen the crisis. Keeping him while handing him near-total authority on the coaching appointment would mark a dramatic shift in the internal balance of power.
Names are already circulating. Roberto Mancini, the man who delivered Euro 2020 but left his previous stint in charge under a cloud, is in the frame. So is Antonio Conte, the hard-edged organiser who rebuilt the Azzurri once before. A host of other candidates have been linked, but no clear favourite has yet emerged from the chaos.
What is clear is that this was supposed to look very different. At the dawn of a new chapter for the national team, the FIGC and the Azzurri faithful expected clarity, competence, a clean launch. Instead, they have been handed a comedy of errors.
The federation should have seen this coming. Pirlo’s association with Fonbet was no secret, no obscure detail buried in fine print. Appointing him without anticipating the political and ethical reaction has left the FIGC exposed on two fronts: publicly, for the decision itself, and internally, for alienating the very technical director tasked with rebuilding the project.
Now the FIGC finds itself trapped. Its image has taken a hit. Its chosen coach has slipped away. Its technical director is either on the verge of resigning or about to become more powerful than the leadership ever intended.
For a country that lives and breathes its national team, the question is no longer just who will sit on the bench. It is whether the people choosing that coach still command the authority to lead Italian football into its next era.
