Andrea Pirlo rules himself out of Italy coaching job amid Fonbet betting tie-up controversy

Andrea Pirlo says he is “no longer a candidate” to coach Italy’s national team after his commercial relationship with Russian betting brand Fonbet became part of the conversation around the job. For high-risk operators, the point is familiar: when a brand is politically exposed, even a personal ambassador deal can become a federation problem.

1. La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Giovanni Malagò, the newly elected President of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), had “put the brakes on” Pirlo’s appointment pending legal advice. Pirlo had been favoured by technical director Paolo Maldini and former sporting director Leonardo, but the commercial tie-up became the obstacle.
2. Pirlo said on social media on Monday that he would not take the role, while arguing that his work with Fonbet was “exclusively commercial and sporting in nature.” He also said the arrangement “stems from my work in the United Arab Emirates,” and rejected any political reading of the deal.
3. The pressure matters because Italy supports sanctions against Russia, which made Fonbet politically charged in this context. In other words, the issue was not just sponsor optics; it was whether a betting-brand ambassadorship could sit comfortably next to a national-team appointment in a sanctions-sensitive environment.
4. Fonbet was founded in 1995 by chess player Anatoly Machulsky. It runs more than 1,000 retail betting outlets and was among the first gambling operators licensed by Roskomnadzor to operate online in 2016. Pirlo became a brand ambassador in October 2025.
5. Pirlo had been expected to take over after Pep Guardiola turned down the position. Italy’s failure to qualify for the 2026 World Cup has intensified debate over the state of Italian football, while Malagò is backing a proposal for a 1 per cent football betting levy and there are also calls to revisit the ban on gambling sponsorship in sport.