Pirlo out of Italy football top job after backlash over Russian betting firm links

What the report says

Nile Post, citing BBC Sport, reports that Andrea Pirlo has said he is no longer in contention to become Italy’s national football coach after criticism over his links to the Russian betting company Fonbet. The Italian Football Federation had not formally announced him, but the report says his appointment was widely viewed as close to certain. Pirlo, now coaching Dubai United in the UAE, addressed the controversy in an Instagram post on Monday.

The backlash centred on Pirlo’s role as a global ambassador for Fonbet, which he reportedly took up last October. Italian politicians questioned whether someone associated with a Russian company should hold a national role after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Carlo Calenda of the Azione party said people who promoted Russia after 2022 should not hold national office, while European Parliament vice-president Pina Picierno argued the reported choice ran counter to needed reform in Italian football.

Pirlo rejected the suggestion that his commercial and sporting work carried a political meaning, saying such an interpretation attributed views to him that he had not expressed. The report notes that scrutiny had grown after he appeared at a Fonbet event in Moscow alongside figures including the pro-Kremlin singer Shaman, prompting criticism from Ukrainian athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych. Russia’s ambassador in Rome, Aleksey Paramonov, publicly defended Pirlo.

The episode adds uncertainty around the FIGC’s search for a coach. The report says technical director Paolo Maldini, appointed on 11 July, may face pressure after the failed move. Italy are seeking stability after another World Cup qualifying failure, with Italian media linking Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini to the job after reported approaches to Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti did not succeed.