Andrea Pirlo is currently the head coach of the UAE’s Dubai United
Andrea Pirlo has said he is no longer a candidate to coach the Italian national side following days of controversy over his ties to a Russian betting company.

His appointment as Italy’s next head coach had not been confirmed by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) yet was being treated as all but certain.

But over the weekend several Italian politicians criticised the FIGC’s choice, noting that Pirlo, 47, had taken up a role as global ambassador for Russia’s Fonbet last October.

The betting company has sponsored several sporting events involving veterans of Moscow’s war in Ukraine and has organised events in Russia at which Pirlo appeared alongside pro-Kremlin figures.

“Anyone who is or has been promoting Russia after 2022 should not hold national office,” said Carlo Calenda of the centrist Azione party.

“After learning last night that I am no longer a candidate for the Italian national team, I feel it is my duty to clarify some aspects,” Pirlo, a former Internazionale, Juventus, AC Milan and Azzurri midfielder, wrote in an Instagram post on Monday morning.

“Over the last few days I watched, with great bitterness, the debate that swirled around my name,” he said, adding that any “professional collaboration” he undertook in his capacity as coach for United FC in Dubai “was exclusively of a commercial and sporting nature”.

“To assign a political meaning to that collaboration means ascribing to me beliefs which I have never expressed and that do not belong to me,” Pirlo wrote.

Pina Picierno, a vice-president of the European Parliament, said at the weekend that Italian football “desperately needed a cultural, ethical and managerial revolution” but that the choice of Pirlo “goes in the exact opposite direction”.

In contrast, Pirlo was offered support by the Russian ambassador in Rome, Aleksey Paramonov, who said that it was “saddening” to note that, “despite [Pirlo’s] extraordinary contribution to world sport and to Italy’s image around the world, in your own country, you are now being ostracized”.

Scrutiny of Pirlo’s ties to Fonbet and Russia intensified last spring, when he took part in a Fonbet event held in Moscow, which saw him and former teammate Marco Materazzi sign autographs at Luzhniki Stadium.

Nationalist pro-Kremlin pop star Shaman, who has repeatedly expressed his support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also performed at the event.

At the time, Ukrainian skeleton slider Vladyslav Heraskevych – who was disqualified from the Winter Olympics over his helmet depicting fellow athletes killed in the war – noted the Luzhniki event had taken place on the same day as a large Russian attack on Ukraine.

Heraskevych also criticised Pirlo for appearing next to Russian footballer Artem Dzyuba, who in the wake of the war in Ukraine posted on social media that he was “proud to be Russian”.

“It’s sad to see childhood legends turn into moral bankrupts,” Heraskevych said.

The debate now risks engulfing new FIGC technical director Paolo Maldini, who has only been in post since 11 July and who Italian media say may resign over Pirlo’s failed appointment.

Maldini and his adviser, former AC Milan teammate Leonardo, were tasked with finding a new head coach to navigate Italy through a Nations League group that includes France, Belgium and Turkey in the autumn and then try to qualify for Euro 2028.

The Italian football community has been undergoing much soul-searching after the team failed to qualify for a third World Cup earlier this year. Italy’s loss on penalties to Bosnia-Herzegovina in April led to coach Gennaro Gattuso stepping down as well as a reshuffle of the FIGC echelons.

Earlier this month, Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti were both unsuccessfully approached ahead of Pirlo.

According to Italian media, other names currently being considered are Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini – who led Italy to Euro 2020 glory before failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar and unceremoniously stepping down from the Italy bench to coach Saudi Arabia.

Paris Saint-Germain have pulled out of the race to sign RB Leipzig forward Yan Diomande, with Real Madrid now increasingly confident of landing the Ivory Coast international.

“PSG has this evening formally withdrawn its interest in, and bids for, Yan Diomande,” said a statement from the Ligue 1 and European champions given to Sky in Germany last night.

“The asking transfer fee and salary demands were completely disproportionate and distortive – and PSG will not break its principles of rational financial management and squad balance.”

Madrid, who have already had a £85.4m (€100m) bid rejected for the 19-year-old, with Leipzig wanting significantly more to let him go, are understood to be pushing hard to finalise a deal for the player.

Real have also agreed personal terms with Diomande.

Diomande had previously indicated a preference to join PSG earlier this summer and agreed a contract with them until 2031.

Jose Mourinho’s side have been active in this window as Bernardo Silva, Ibrahima Konate, Denzel Dumfries and Marc Cucurella have all been snapped up.

Liverpool have also expressed an interest in Diomande, but aren’t willing to pay more than £85m.

Premier League clubs Arsenal and Manchester City also remain keen on the Ivorian.

A Kebbi State High Court judge, Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza, has been abducted by gunmen at his residence along Zogirma Road in Bunza Local Government Area of the state.

The incident, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday, marks the second abduction of a serving judge in recent times.

A state high court judge, Justice Ebiyerin Umokoro, had been kidnapped in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State in June 2025. He was freed after 12 days in captivity.

Report says gunmen attacked Justice Bunza shortly after he returned from a trip to Sokoto.

“He had just returned from Sokoto when the gunmen stormed his residence and took him away,” a source said.

The report said no one else in the house was injured, although the attackers fired several gunshots before leaving with the judge.

A brother to the abducted judge, Malam Shehu Yusuf Bunza, narrates that the family was deeply worried about his whereabouts.

Shehu said, “I was in Birnin Kebbi when one of his sons, Abdullahi, called me. He said about seven armed men followed his father as he was returning from Sokoto. As he drove into his compound and was getting out of his vehicle, they approached him.

“They asked if he was Justice Faruku. He denied it, saying Faruku had gone to Birnin Kebbi, but they insisted they knew he was the person they were looking for.

“He then asked them in Hausa, ‘Lafiya?’ They ordered him to keep quiet, but when he continued speaking, they brought out their guns and started shooting indiscriminately.

“They asked him to take them to his rooms, but he refused, saying there were married women inside.

“They also asked for one of his sons, Abdullahi, but he told them the boy had gone out. After that, they took him away on their motorcycles.”

Shehu said he asked what steps the family had taken after the incident, and Abdullahi told him they had reported the matter to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Bunza Police Station.

Kebbi State has witnessed bandit attacks in recent years, although the violence has largely been concentrated in the southern and eastern parts of the state.

Most of the worst-hit areas border forests in Niger, Zamfara and parts of Sokoto states, which armed groups use as hideouts.

One of the most notable incidents occurred in November 2025 when gunmen attacked the Government Girls Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, killed the vice principal and abducted 25 schoolgirls. The students were later rescued.

Although Bunza LGA has not been one of Kebbi’s banditry hotspots, the abduction of Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza represents a significant escalation in the state’s security situation.

Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza was born in Bunza Local Government Area of Kebbi State on the 15th November 1960.

His alma mata include Bunza Waje Primary School; Haliru Abdu Teachers College; College of Legal and Islamic Studies, Sokoto and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto

He was called to the Bar in 1990 after completing the Nigerian Law School in Lagos.

Before his elevation to the bench, Justice Bunza served in different judicial capacities, including magistrate, Chief Magistrate, and Deputy Chief Registrar.

He was appointed as a high court judge in 2012.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Kebbi State Command, SP Bashir Usman, confirmed the abduction.

“I can confirm that Hon. Justice Faruku Hassan Bunza was abducted from his residence in Bunza around midnight,” he said.

The police spokesman said the Commissioner of Police, CP Umar Muhammad Hadejia, had deployed tactical and intelligence operatives after receiving the report.

“As we speak, our personnel are combing identified locations, including forest areas, to ensure that the judge is rescued alive and unharmed,” he said.