Why Maldini quit FIGC after 17 days

Paolo Maldini was supposed to help restore Italy’s pride after being appointed technical director of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). Instead, the former Italy captain walked away just 17 days into the role, convinced that the agreement that had brought him in had already been broken.

In an interview with Corriere della Sera, he revealed that his main condition for taking the job was having the authority to choose Italy's next head coach. FIGC president Giovanni Malago, he said, had initially agreed.

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“Well, the first thing I asked was: ‘Who chooses the coach?’. Malago replied: ‘The coach is up to you and I will endorse that’. That was the deal. Then certain events changed it,” Maldini said.

Italy, a four-time World Cup winner, is facing a major crisis after missing the last three editions of the tournament. Maldini wanted to oversee a long-term rebuild, beginning with a coach who could give the national team a more progressive identity.

“It wasn’t just a matter of relaunching the national team, we had to rebuild Italian football.”

His first choice was Pep Guardiola.

“We went to visit him [Pep] in Barcelona, we had lunch together, we talked for a whole day. He was very tempted. He came very close to accepting. He even started writing formations down on pieces of paper.”

Maldini also rejected reports that Guardiola's salary demands, reportedly around €20 million, had killed the proposal.

“Money was never an issue. Pep told us clearly: Give me one euro less than what the previous coach took and I’m fine.”

The deal eventually collapsed “because of exhaustion” on Guardiola's part.

Maldini then turned to Andrea Pirlo, but the proposed appointment ran into opposition after controversy over Pirlo's links to a Russian betting company. Malago subsequently withdrew his support.

“He phoned me and Leonardo to say: ‘In my opinion, we can no longer go for Pirlo. From today, the coach is up to me. From today, the rules change, I will decide on the coach and you endorse it’,” Maldini said.

For Maldini, that was the breaking point.

“The agreements were changed,” he said.

“The only thing to do was to resign, to give up on the four-year contract that was supposed to start on August 1.”

After Maldini's departure, the FIGC moved towards Roberto Mancini. Maldini insisted his resistance to Mancini was not personal.

“Imagine my not appreciating Roberto Mancini,” he said. “But, we had different projects in mind. We wanted a new, younger coach.”