Andrea Pirlo ruled out of contention for Italy job due to Russian betting firm sponsorship deal

Andrea Pirlo has confirmed he is no longer in contention to become Italy‘s next national football team coach.

The former AC Milan and Juventus midfielder, who won the World Cup as a player with Italy in 2006, announced on Monday via Instagram: “I heard last night that I’m no longer the candidate for the Italy national team job.”

His withdrawal follows political concerns over a sponsorship deal with a Russian betting firm.

Several Italian politicians had raised objections to Pirlo’s contract as an ambassador for Fonbet, arguing the national coach should not hold views conflicting with Italy’s support for Ukraine amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Pirlo, who had been prepared to leave his Dubai United role to take over as Italy boss, defended the agreement as “exclusively for commercial and sports” purposes, linked to his UAE job.

He added: “Attributing a political significance to that collaboration means attributing beliefs to me that I have never expressed and don’t belong to me.”

His previous unsuccessful stints in charge of Juventus and Sampdoria had already made him an unpopular choice.

Former Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola previously turned down the Italy job (Martin Rickett/PA) (PA Wire)

Pirlo had not been Italy’s first-choice candidate, but became a frontrunner after Carlo Ancelotti and Pep Guardiola declined offers for the role.

Attention now returns to former Italy coaches Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini, who are once again being discussed for the position.

The national side has been without a permanent coach since Gennaro Gattuso departed by mutual consent in April, following their World Cup qualifying play-off defeat to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which saw them miss out on a third consecutive World Cup.

Conte previously held the role as national team coach between 2014 and 2016, and won 14 of his 25 matches at the helm alongside six draws and five losses.

He led Italy at Euro 2016 as his team knocked out defending champions Spain in the last-16 before being knocked out by Germany on penalties in the quarter-finals.

Mancini then held the position as national team manager from 2018 to 2023. He famously guided Italy to European Championship glory in 2021 as his team beat England on penalties in the final at Wembley.

However, Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup the following year after a shock play-off defeat by North Macedonia.