Andrea Pirlo has confirmed he is no longer being considered for the Italy head coach job, with reports suggesting his sponsorship deal with Russian betting firm Fonbet was behind the decision. Several Italian politicians had objected to his candidacy, arguing it was inappropriate for a national team coach to have commercial ties to a Russian company given Italy's support for Ukraine, and Pirlo used the announcement to defend the arrangement, insisting it carried no political meaning.

Writing on Instagram, Pirlo said he learned on Sunday night that he was no longer in the running, despite having the backing of Italian football federation technical director Paolo Maldini. He had previously argued the Fonbet deal related solely to his coaching role in the United Arab Emirates and was "exclusively for commercial and sports purposes," but faced sharp criticism from figures including European Parliament vice-president Pina Picierno, Senate speaker Ignazio La Russa and Azione leader Carlo Calenda. The Italian federation had approached Pirlo after missing out on Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti to replace Gennaro Gattuso, who departed in April following Italy's World Cup qualification failure; Roberto Mancini and Antonio Conte are now the leading candidates for the role.