Sports News

Pirlo says he won't be Italy coach

Jul 28, 2026

Italy, July 28: Andrea Pirlo has said he is no longer in the running for the Italy national team coaching job in connection with an ambassador role for a Russian bookmaker. Pirlo said on Monday on Instagram that he learnt the previous night "that I am no longer a candidate for the Italy national team head coach position." Pirlo is coach of UAE club Dubai United and an ambassador for betting company Fonbet. This role has led to concerns within the Italian football body FIGC and from politicians. Pirlo insisted in an earlier post that the Fonbet deal was "exclusively commercial and sporting in nature" and said that "to attribute a political significance to this collaboration is to attribute to me beliefs that I have never expressed and do not hold. Former Azzurri coaches Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte are now said to be top candidates.