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Pirlo Losses Italy Football Top Job Chance Over Russian Links

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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.

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Iraola: My Fight With Isak Has Never Been About Goals

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Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says Alexander Isak is a “massive” player for him – but adds he “fights” with the player about needing to do more for the “collective”.

 

Isak scored twice in the opening nine minutes in the 2-0 win over Ipswich to take his tally to three for the season – but Iraola hinted the player needs to do more off the ball for the team.

“He’s a massive player for us,” he told Sky Sports. “My demands will not be about the goals: he’s fit, in a good shape and he will produce the numbers.

“But my fights with him are more about other stuff, how to help the team in other situations. But it’s good he has played two full games and today a good amount of minutes, scoring the goals.”

Iraola did not reveal which specific areas Isak needs to improve, but it could be interpreted that Iraola wants his striker to do more in the pressing.

“I will demand other things so we can play well,” he said in his post-match press conference about those demands to Isak. “And if we play well, we are in good positions, the goals will come.

“He has to contribute to the collective and when everyone helps, after the goals and results will come.”

Iraola also said to Sky: “Today we were much, much better in our press. We were recovering very high and then we can contact him in good positions.

“If we recover the ball lower, it will be more difficult to find him to have less spaces. So we need more quality effort to put our No 9 in situations like he had today.”

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‘It’s So Strong’ – Sabalenka Halts Play Over Cannabis Smell

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Aryna Sabalenka briefly halted her US Open match against Kamilla Rakhimova because of a strong smell of cannabis before cruising into the fourth round in New York.

 

Top seed Sabalenka raised the issue after going 3-0 up in the first set against Uzbekistan’s Rakhimova, telling umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore that “someone is smoking weed”.

The Belarusian asked the umpire to intervene “because it’s so strong”.

Asderaki-Moore spoke to an official on her radio and made a smoking gesture to someone behind her, before play continued.

Two-time defending champion Sabalenka went on to secure a confident 6-3 6-4 victory on Louis Armstrong Stadium as she chases a fifth Grand Slam singles title.

Sabalenka said afterwards she was not sure where the smell of cannabis was coming from but asked fans to be more mindful.

Smoking is not permitted on site at Flushing Meadows but the smell of cannabis sometimes wafts on to court from the nearby Corona Park.

It is legal to smoke it in New York for adults aged 21 and over.

“It’s a bit tricky to handle that smell while you’re trying to compete at your best,” Sabalenka said.

“I don’t know if it was coming from the crowd or was from the outside because the wind blows it into the stadium.

“I just hope they’re going to be a bit more aware of that stuff.”

Sabalenka is not the first player at this year’s US Open to complain about the smell of cannabis at Flushing Meadows.

Britain’s Katie Boulter previously said it was distracting, while Harriet Dart and Francesca Jones also noticed the smell.

In past years players including Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev have also complained.

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Onana Gets Twins As Salah Welcomes First Son Weeks After Joining Turkish Team

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Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah has welcomed his third child and first son, named Lail, Trabzonspor President Ertuğrul Doğan said after the Turkish club’s third-round league match against Amedspor.

 

Doğan said Salah and his Cameroonian teammate André Onana travelled outside Turkey following the match as their wives were due to give birth.

“After the Amed match, we travelled abroad with Onana and Salah. Onana welcomed twins, while Salah welcomed a baby boy. I congratulate their families and wives,” Doğan was quoted as telling Turkish media.

Salah’s sister, Rabab Salah, later revealed the baby’s name on Instagram, posting a photograph of a baby hat and congratulating her brother on the birth of Lail.

The child is Salah’s first son. The Egyptian star and his wife, Magi, already have two daughters, Makka and Kayan.

Doğan’s comments came after a photograph of Salah and Onana aboard a private jet circulated online, prompting questions among Trabzonspor supporters and local media about the reason for their trip.

The club president said both players had travelled for family reasons following the match.

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