CT Italia: Abete Lashes Out at Malagò and Maldini: “Now We Need a Serious Plan”

A meeting was held on Monday afternoon between FIGC President Giovanni Malagò and federation officials, following the recent turbulent days that saw the collapse of the Maldini-Leonardo plan and the duo’s resignation after candidate Andrea Pirlo was rejected for the role of head coach of the Azzurri for non-technical reasons.

Upon leaving the meeting, Giancarlo Abete, president of the National Amateur League, confirmed the two executives’ decision to resign: “Now we have to start from scratch. We’re not used to these kinds of situations. We need to start over with a serious plan. Maldini had spoken of an eight- to ten-year plan that came to an end in four days. No names have been mentioned yet for the new head coach.”

Abete clarified that no actual candidates have been officially announced yet: “We’re not used to situations like this; Malagò, for one, didn’t give us any names. Maldini and Leonardo? We found out about them at the end of the meeting of the governing bodies, from media reports. Until 45 minutes ago, we were considering the alternatives proposed by the technical director and the advisor. Now we have to start over with a serious plan.”

The president of the amateur division also explained that the FIGC was unaware of the Pirlo-Russia situation: “Today’s meeting began with the negotiations regarding Guardiola and subsequently the suggestion of Pirlo, after which the issues that everyone is now aware of emerged—activities unknown to the Federation when it made this decision. Then came the refusal of Maldini and Leonardo—let’s call it a resignation, though I don’t think it has been formalized yet.”