Giovanni Malago, president of the Italian Federation, announced the appointment of Roberto Mancini as the new technical director of the Italian national team.
The Italian Football Federation had placed the names of the duo Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini at the top of the list of candidates to coach the "Azzurri" after backing out of the agreement with Andrea Pirlo.
The Italian Football Federation backed out of contracting with Andrea Pirlo, after it was revealed that he works with a Russian betting company, which conflicts with his country's relationship with Russia since the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Mancini had previously coached the Italian national team for a period of nearly 5 years, between May 2018 and August 2023.
Malago confirmed in a press conference today, Tuesday, the selection of Mancini as the new technical director of the Italian national team, and the appointment of Claudio Ranieri as technical director of the Italian Federation, after the resignation of Paolo Maldini.
Malago said in statements during the press conference: "Time is short and your curiosity as media professionals also pushed us to speed up, and I have evaluated the most suitable person to coach the new Italian national team, which is Roberto Mancini for many reasons, I take responsibility for these reasons, but I would like to clarify that this does not change the culture and role of the new technical director".
He added: "With what happened yesterday, I needed someone who shares my vision regarding who will be the coach of the Italian national team, because there must be a shared vision with the club president and its technical director, this shared vision regarding Mancini did not exist with Paolo Maldini".
The president of the Italian Federation concluded: "The person with whom I share this vision is Claudio Ranieri, who confirmed minutes ago that he will assume this position, he is the right person to assume this important and sensitive role".