Italian football has been plunged into another leadership crisis after Paolo Maldini and Leonardo resigned from their positions within the Italian Football Federation after only 16 days.
Maldini had been appointed technical director of the FIGC and president of Club Italia, while his former AC Milan colleague Leonardo joined the new structure as an adviser. Their appointments were intended to mark the beginning of an ambitious rebuilding project for the Italian national teams.
That project has now collapsed before it was properly able to begin.
According to Sky Sport Italia’s report on the resignations, both men informed FIGC president Giovanni Malagò of their decision on July 27, only 16 days after agreeing to take up their new responsibilities.
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Pirlo decision triggers dramatic departure
The dispute centred on the FIGC’s search for a new Italy head coach.
After Pep Guardiola rejected an approach for personal reasons, Maldini and Leonardo identified Andrea Pirlo as the coach they wanted to lead the national team. The former Juventus midfielder was contacted, and negotiations began to release him from his contract with United FC in Dubai.
However, Pirlo’s commercial relationship with Fonbet, a Russian sports-betting company, generated political criticism in Italy. He had worked as a global ambassador for the company, whose business interests are connected to United FC owner Sergey Lomakin.
As Sky Sport Italia described in its detailed account of the breakdown, Malagò declined to approve the appointment amid the growing political pressure. Meetings that were expected to finalise Pirlo’s departure from United FC and his subsequent FIGC agreement were then cancelled.
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The issue was not simply that Pirlo could not end his relationship with Fonbet. Sky reported that the FIGC had received his active contracts and was aware of a clause allowing the relevant agreements to be terminated without a financial penalty.
Pirlo says he was removed from contention
Pirlo did not announce that he had decided to withdraw from the process.
Instead, the former Italy international said he had been told that he was no longer being considered.
“I learned last night that I was no longer a candidate to coach the Azzurri,” Pirlo wrote in a social media statement quoted by ANSA in its report on the crisis.
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Pirlo defended his commercial work as entirely sporting and professional rather than political. He also expressed disappointment at the manner in which the debate had developed around his candidacy.
For Maldini and Leonardo, the decision represented a fundamental challenge to the authority they believed they had been given when accepting their new positions.
United front collapses within days
The speed of the breakdown is particularly striking because the FIGC had publicly presented its new leadership structure only days earlier.
At a Lega Serie A meeting on July 24, Malagò stood alongside Maldini and Leonardo and spoke about the unity behind their plans.
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“There is complete alignment between myself, Maldini and Leonardo,” Malagò said in the FIGC’s official account of the presentation. “We will share all decision making.”
Maldini also said at the presentation that the project was ambitious but exciting. He explained that the newly created technical director position was intended to establish a recognisable footballing identity across both the senior national team and Italy’s youth sides.
Three days later, he and Leonardo were gone.
Serie A president confirms Maldini’s exit
Ezio Maria Simonelli, the president of Lega Serie A, confirmed that Maldini had selected Pirlo and expressed regret over the former defender’s departure.
“Maldini had chosen Pirlo, but he will not be the coach,” Simonelli said.
He added that Maldini had been a valuable appointment and that he would have preferred him to remain involved for the wider benefit of Italian football.
The resignations leave Malagò without the two men who were supposed to define the FIGC’s new technical direction. They also leave Italy’s coaching search unresolved, as Pirlo had never formally signed a contract.
Mancini emerges as the leading candidate
Roberto Mancini has now returned to the front of the race to become Italy’s next head coach.
Sky Sport Italia reported that Malagò had previously met Mancini in late May and had initially viewed him as the preferred option. The former Manchester City manager has also reportedly contacted Lele Oriali about potentially returning as Italy’s team manager.
Mancini led Italy to the European Championship title in 2021 before leaving the national team in 2023. His previous departure was controversial, but his international experience and familiarity with the federation make him an obvious option during a period of instability.
Antonio Conte remains another possible candidate, although Sky reported that he had not been formally contacted as of July 27. Giorgio Chiellini has also been mentioned as a possible replacement for Maldini in the technical director role.
A rebuilding project ends before it begins
The FIGC’s Federal Council is scheduled to meet on July 28, with the coaching search and the future technical structure expected to dominate discussions.
Maldini and Leonardo had been appointed on a four-year mandate designed to take Italian football through Euro 2028 and towards the 2030 World Cup. The FIGC’s original appointment announcement described them as central figures in a long-term overhaul of the national programme.
Instead, the partnership lasted little more than two weeks.
Italy must now find a national coach, appoint another technical leader and explain how a project introduced as a historic new beginning disintegrated only days after its first public presentation.
