Andrea Pirlo has pulled out of the Italy coach race after days of uproar over the Italy coach race and his links to a Russian betting company. The former midfield star said on Monday that he was no longer a candidate to lead the national team, ending what had been seen as a near-certain appointment by the Italian Football Federation.
The controversy centered on Pirlo’s role as a global ambassador for Fonbet, a Russian betting firm, a position he took up last October. Italian politicians questioned the federation’s judgment, pointing to Fonbet’s sponsorship of sporting events tied to veterans of Moscow’s war in Ukraine and to events in Russia where Pirlo appeared with pro-Kremlin figures. Carlo Calenda, of the centrist Azione party, argued that anyone promoting Russia after 2022 should not hold national office.
In a post on Instagram, Pirlo said he felt compelled to respond after learning he was no longer in contention. He said he had watched the debate around his name with bitterness and insisted that any professional work he did as coach of United FC in Dubai was purely commercial and sporting. He rejected the idea that the arrangement carried political meaning or reflected beliefs he has never expressed.
Pressure on the federation also came from outside Italy. Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, said the country’s game needed a deep cultural, ethical and managerial reset, and argued that the choice of Pirlo pointed in the wrong direction. By contrast, Russian ambassador Aleksey Paramonov defended him, saying it was sad that Pirlo was being pushed aside in his own country despite what he called his major contribution to sport and Italy’s image abroad.
