CT Italia: Roberto Mancini Is Officially Appointed, but Thousands of Fans Are Up in Arms

After days of chaos, the FIGC has chosen its new head coach: Roberto Mancini. The announcement was made official by Giovanni Malagò, who stated during Tuesday’s press conference: “I felt it was right that the person to become head coach of the national team should be Roberto Mancini, for a whole series of reasons.”

Thousands of fans, however, did not approve of Malagò’s choice, as demonstrated by a poll conducted by *La Gazzetta dello Sport*. Just over 26,000 people responded to the Gazzetta’s survey within about three hours, and the results are overwhelming: 86% of voters believe Mancini is not the right man for the job due to his snub in 2023.

Three years ago, in fact, the coach left the Italian national team to take over the Saudi Arabian national team, signing a lucrative contract worth about 25 million euros per season—an astronomical sum that the former Sampdoria star couldn’t bring himself to turn down.

The past few weeks at the FIGC have been very chaotic: Paolo Maldini and Leonardo first received a “no” from Carlo Ancelotti, then were turned down by Pep Guardiola following lengthy negotiations. The two subsequently chose Andrea Pirlo, but things did not go as planned.

Giovanni Malagò opposed Pirlo’s candidacy, and criticism from many politicians certainly didn’t help; for this reason, Maldini and Leonardo decided to step aside, and Roberto Mancini was appointed.