Maldini breaks silence on Italy exit: Guardiola nearly accepted, Pirlo blocked by betting-link pretext

The appointment and the promise

Paolo Maldini has broken his silence about his 16-day tenure as technical director of the Italian national team, telling Corriere della Sera that FIGC president Giovanni Malagò reversed a key agreement about who would choose the head coach. Maldini said Malagò first called him at Easter 2026, saying there was a possibility he might become FIGC president and would like Maldini with him. Maldini accepted, he said, because for him only Milan and Italy matter in football. The arrangement, as Maldini described it, was clear: he and advisor Leonardo would select the coach, and the president would approve. Maldini was appointed on 11 July 2026. He resigned on 27 July, declining to sign a four-year contract that was to begin on 1 August.

The Guardiola approach

Before settling on Andrea Pirlo, Maldini and Leonardo explored two prominent international names. Maldini called Carlo Ancelotti, whom he described as a close friend, and received the reply that the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) had reaffirmed its confidence in him. The more advanced conversation was with Pep Guardiola. Maldini and Leonardo travelled to Barcelona and spent an entire day with the Manchester City coach.

“We went to find him in Barcelona, we had lunch together, we talked for a whole day. He was very tempted. He got very close to accepting. He even started writing formations on sheets of paper.”

Maldini said Guardiola studied Italian squads from the Under-17 level upward and that money was not the obstacle. Guardiola told them, Maldini recounted, to give him one euro less than the last Italy coach earned and he would be satisfied. Guardiola ultimately declined, citing fatigue after ten demanding years in the Premier League and recent back surgery.

The Pirlo candidacy and the rupture

With Guardiola unavailable and Ancelotti committed to Brazil, Maldini turned to three 2006 World Cup winners: Andrea Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi, and Fabio Grosso. De Rossi and Grosso were ruled out because Malagò's election agreements with Serie A clubs (all except Lazio) prevented hiring coaches under contract with top-flight teams. De Rossi was at Genoa, Grosso at Fiorentina. The path cleared for Pirlo, currently coaching Dubai United, but his candidacy collapsed after public scrutiny of his commercial ties to Russian betting company Fonbet.

Maldini called the betting-link controversy a pretext. He said Pirlo was willing to sever the relationship with Fonbet and that no legal impediment existed. Critics also raised the agent careers of the respective sons, Christian Maldini and Nicolò Pirlo. Malagò then called Maldini and Leonardo to reverse the agreement.

“He called me and Leonardo to say: 'In my opinion Pirlo can no longer be taken. From today I decide the coach. From today the rules change: I decide the coach and you approve.'”

Maldini said the original terms had been revised, leaving resignation as the only option.

Maldini's vision for Italian football

Maldini described a broader project to rebuild Italian football over an 8 to 10 year horizon, focusing on technical skill rather than tactical drilling. He cited his sons Christian and Daniel's experience in Milan's youth academy, where "they only talk about tactics" and where individual talent is treated as a problem. He proposed rules to encourage Italian players to feature in Serie A, B, and C teams, and noted that coaches working with children aged 10 to 14 earn around 1,000 euros per month and need a second job. Malagò, responding through La Gazzetta dello Sport, said he would meet Maldini after the holidays and described the departures as "linearity of behavior."