But no Saudi offer?
“No one killed”: Mancini defends himself
08/15/2023, 3:12 p.m
It was “one of the most absurd days in Italian football history”: With his sudden resignation, national coach Roberto Mancini triggered an earthquake. He is said to be addicted to Saudi money, but he himself denies it.
The resigned Italian national soccer coach Roberto Mancini has defended himself after fierce allegations due to his resignation announced on Sunday. “I didn’t kill anyone, I deserve respect and I don’t deserve the criticism I’ve been confronted with,” said the 58-year-old in an interview with “Corriere dello Sport”.
He denied that a 120 million euro offer for three years from Saudi Arabia was the reason for his departure: “For me, the Italian national team has always had priority. After many years as a coach, I have received various offers that I will review in the next few weeks but nothing concrete at the moment. Saudi Arabia has nothing to do with my resignation.” Rather, differences of opinion with the head of the association, Gabriele Gravina, were the decisive reason.
The 58-year-old Mancini had handed in his resignation on Saturday evening after a good five years, as the Italian football association FIGC announced on Sunday. Mancini himself later described his resignation on Instagram as a “personal decision”. However, Italian media reported a lucrative offer for the coach from Saudi Arabia. Mancini had led Italy to the European Championship title in 2021 and thus celebrated the greatest success with the Azzurri since the 2006 world championship title.
The union is under pressure
Meanwhile, the search for a successor is underway in Italy. According to Italian media reports, the ex-coach of SSC Napoli, Luciano Spalletti, is the main candidate for Mancini’s successor. The sports newspaper “Gazzetta dello Sport” also speculated on Monday that former Tottenham coach Antonio Conte could be considered as the new national coach.
Mancini’s retirement caught Italian football completely unprepared. The “Gazzetta dello Sport” even wrote of “one of the most absurd days in our football history”. In qualifying for Euro 2024, Italy are third in their group with three points from two games. The games against North Macedonia and Ukraine are already scheduled for September. In view of these “important commitments”, the football association wanted to announce the new national coach in the coming days.
Ex-Napoli coach Spalletti only announced that he would take a break after winning the championship title. “I have to take a year off. I’m a bit tired,” he said on Italian television at the time. At the same time he raved about being a national coach. “Coaching a national team would be very appealing,” he said.
Conte, who coached the Italian national team from 2014 to 2016 alongside Juve, Inter, Chelsea and Tottenham, has been without a contract since leaving Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur at the end of March. The “Gazzetta dello Sport” reported that Conte was very interested in returning to the national team.