Andrea Pirlo withdraws from Italy job contention, defends commercial ties with Russian betting firm Fonbet

Published Jul 27, 10:50 AM UTC

Andrea Pirlo has announced he is 'no longer a candidate' for the Italy head coach position, expressing 'great bitterness' over the public debate surrounding his commercial ties to Russian betting company Fonbet. The role has been vacant since Gennaro Gattuso left in April after Italy failed to qualify for a third consecutive World Cup. Pirlo, a 2006 World Cup winner and former Juventus and AC Milan star, has been a brand ambassador for Fonbet since October while coaching in the UAE. In a social media statement, he insisted the arrangement was purely commercial and sporting, not political. The Russian ambassador to Italy, Aleksey Paramonov, released a video supporting Pirlo, criticizing what he called 'pseudo-democratic establishment' ostracism. The Italian football federation (FIGC) had previously approached Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti for the role, both of whom declined.