Paolo Maldini has resigned as Italy's technical director after just 16 days in the job, throwing the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) into turmoil. The 58-year-old walked away alongside his adviser, former Brazil international Leonardo, after the federation blocked Andrea Pirlo's appointment as head coach over the former midfielder's commercial ties to Russian betting company Fonbet.
Maldini was appointed on 11 July with the task of rebuilding the national side after Italy failed to qualify for a third successive World Cup finals. His departure leaves the federation without a clear strategy at its lowest ebb in nearly 40 years, according to reports. The crisis deepened after Pirlo—Maldini's primary choice for the coaching role after Pep Guardiola rejected the federation's initial approach—announced he was no longer a candidate.
“Paolo Maldini has resigned as Italy technical director after just 16 days following Andrea Pirlo's withdrawal over Fonbet ties.”
"After learning last night that I am no longer a candidate for the Italian national team, I feel it is my duty to clarify some aspects," Pirlo wrote in an Instagram post on Monday. The 47-year-old, who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006, had become global ambassador for Fonbet last October. Italian politicians had criticised the FIGC's choice, with Carlo Calenda of the centrist Azione party saying: "Anyone who is or has been promoting Russia after 2022 should not hold national office." Pirlo defended his role as "exclusively of a commercial and sporting nature", adding: "To assign a political meaning to that collaboration means ascribing to me beliefs which I have never expressed."
His ties to Fonbet also drew scrutiny after he took part in a Fonbet event in Moscow last spring alongside pro-Kremlin figures. The Russian ambassador in Rome, Aleksey Paramonov, offered support, saying it was "saddening" that Pirlo was "being ostracized" despite his contribution to world sport.
Maldini, who played his entire career at AC Milan and won 126 caps for Italy, had pushed for Pirlo's appointment. When that request was turned down, Sky Italy reported that he and Leonardo resigned. The double departure comes just weeks after former coach Gennaro Gattuso quit following Italy's failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup. The Azzurri have now missed the 2018, 2022 and 2026 editions—the first former winner to fail to qualify for three consecutive tournaments. Their Euro 2020 triumph, when Roberto Mancini's side beat England at Wembley, is now a distant memory.
The federation is now under newly appointed president Giovanni Malagò and faces an urgent search for a new head coach. Several high-profile managers have been linked, including Roberto Mancini, Thiago Motta and Antonio Conte. But with the national team in crisis and its technical leadership in disarray, the road back to qualification looks steeper than ever.
