The official announcement from the FIGC is not yet here. But the choice of Andrea Pirlo as the new technical commissioner of the National team, after Pep Guardiola’s “courting” by Paolo Maldini and Leonardo did not come to fruition, already creates distinctions and clarifications in the political world.
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La Russa: «May God send us good fortune»
«I respect Malagò, Leonardo, and Maldini, in that order, and therefore I did not make immediate statements about Pirlo as the Azzurri coach out of respect for them, and now I only speak because you called me: may God send us good fortune». The President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, explains to Ansa: «Certainly, I am a fan of Italy and Pirlo was a great champion: but as a coach, it’s a leap in the dark. After Guardiola’s media trial balloon, I wouldn’t want the mountain to have given birth to a mouse, the mouse Pirlo. I thought the choice would be Conte or Mancini».
Abodi: I hope Pirlo brings the desired results, I am his first supporter
«I hope Pirlo can bring the desired results, knowing that it is a journey. He, then, has his own coaching path and I hope he can further enhance it» commented the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, on Sky Tg24. «The field will tell if this was a gamble or a far-sighted choice – he added -. I remain the first supporter of the coach and the national team, which for me is my favorite team». Then on Pep Guardiola’s refusal to join the national team: «I don’t know if he really thought about it. He and Pirlo seem like such distant alternatives to me that without a certainty of his ‘yes’, I would have kept the Guardiola track hidden».
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Della Vedova: best wishes to Pirlo but distance himself from Putin
«One can only extend the most heartfelt wishes to Pirlo and the Italian national football team. With a ‘but’: a few months ago, Pirlo made a choice that was incomprehensible and wrong to me, that of becoming a global ambassador for Fonbet, the leading betting agency in Russia». This is what +Europa deputy Benedetto Della Vedova states on his social media channels. The betting sector is not affected by European sanctions, but this does not negate that a public figure of Andrea Pirlo’s stature should reflect on the public meaning of private and business choices. Personally, I hope that the new National team coach feels the need to terminate the contract with Fonbet, also considering Italy’s current stance towards Russia. Indeed, I want to believe he has already done so». «When Putin stops his violent and illegal invasion of Ukraine and his hybrid war against us Europeans – he concludes – we can start talking about Russia in other terms. Not today».
Picierno: Pirlo lent his prestige to Putin’s regime
«After yet another defeat and another missed World Cup qualification, Italian football would have needed a cultural, ethical, and managerial revolution. The choice of Andrea Pirlo» to lead the Azzurri National team «goes in the opposite direction. Pirlo was an extraordinary champion. As a coach, so far, he has shown very little. And there is an issue that cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. It doesn’t matter if Pirlo is pro-Russian or not. What matters is what he chose to do: freely and repeatedly lend his prestige to an operation of normalization of Putin’s regime, participating in initiatives exploited by Kremlin propaganda while Ukraine was being bombed». This was written on X by the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno. «It was not a simple football match, but a piece of the strategy with which Moscow tries to demonstrate that everything can continue as if nothing had happened. The Italian National team represents Italy in the world. And Italy is on the side of Ukraine, the European Union, and international law. For this reason, the choice of Pirlo was a serious mistake. And the choice of the FIGC is even more so. Not Guardiola’s plan B. Italian football’s plan Z».
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