Pirlo named Italy’s manager; La Russa: ‘May God grant us the best of luck.’ Della Vedova: ‘He should distance himself from Putin’

There has been no official announcement from the FIGC as yet. However, the appointment of Andrea Pirlo as the new manager of the national team – following Paolo Maldini and Leonardo’s unsuccessful attempts to recruit Pep Guardiola – is already prompting distinctions and clarifications in the political sphere.

‘I hold Malagò, Leonardo and Maldini in high regard, in that order, and so I didn’t make any immediate comments on Pirlo becoming Italy’s manager partly out of respect for them; I’m only speaking now because you’ve called me: may God grant us success.’ The President of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa, explains to ANSA: “Of course, I’m an Italia supporter and Pirlo was a great champion: but as a manager, it’s a leap into the unknown. After the media trial balloon regarding Guardiola, I wouldn’t want the mountain to have given birth to a mouse – Pirlo the mouse. I thought the choice would be between Conte and Mancini.”

“I hope Pirlo can deliver the results we’re hoping for, bearing in mind that this is a journey. He, too, has his own journey as a manager, and I hope he can build on it further,” commented the Minister for Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi, on Sky Tg24. “The pitch will tell whether this was a gamble or a forward-thinking decision,” he added. “I remain the number one supporter of the manager and the national team, which is my favourite team.” He then commented on Pep Guardiola’s refusal to take charge of the national team: “I don’t know if he’s really given it any thought. To me, he and Pirlo seem such vastly different options that, without the certainty of a ‘yes’, I would have kept the Guardiola option under wraps.”

“One can only offer Pirlo and the Italian national football team the warmest of wishes. With one ‘but’: a few months ago, Pirlo made a decision that I find incomprehensible and misguided – that of becoming a global ambassador for Fonbet, Russia’s leading betting agency.” This is what +Europa MP Benedetto Della Vedova stated on his social media channels. The betting sector is not affected by European sanctions, but this does not alter the fact that a public figure of Andrea Pirlo’s stature should reflect on the public implications of his private and business decisions. Personally, I hope that the new manager of the national team feels the need to terminate his contract with Fonbet, particularly given Italia’s current stance towards Russia. In fact, I’d like to think he has already done so.” “When Putin puts an end to his violent and illegal invasion of Ukraine and his hybrid war against us Europeans,” he concludes, “we will be able to start talking about Russia in different terms. Not today.”

“Following yet another defeat and another failure to qualify for the World Cup, Italian football would have needed a cultural, ethical and managerial revolution. The choice of Andrea Pirlo’ to lead the Italian national team ‘goes in the opposite direction. Pirlo was an extraordinary champion. As a manager, so far, he has shown very little. And there is one issue that cannot be dismissed as irrelevant. It does not matter whether Pirlo is pro-Russian or not. What matters is what he has chosen to do: freely and repeatedly lending his prestige to an effort to normalise Putin’s regime, taking part in initiatives exploited by Kremlin propaganda whilst Ukraine was being bombed.’ These words were written in X by the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Pina Picierno. “It was not simply a football match, but a piece of the strategy through which Moscow is trying to demonstrate that everything can carry on as if nothing had happened. The Italian national team represents Italia on the world stage. And Italia stands with Ukraine, the European Union and international law. That is why Pirlo’s decision was a serious mistake. And the FIGC’s decision is an even greater one. Not Guardiola’s Plan B. Italian football’s Plan Z.”