Maldini Resigns After Italy Coaching Power Struggle

Paolo Maldini’s return to the heart of Italian football has ended almost before it began. Fourteen days in the job. One bruising clash over who should coach the national team. Then the exit door.

The former AC Milan captain resigned as Italy’s technical director on Monday, joined by his advisor Leonardo, after a bitter stand-off with CONI president Giovanni Malagò and the FIGC over the Azzurri bench.

At the centre of the storm: Andrea Pirlo.

Pirlo veto sparks collapse

Maldini and Leonardo had pushed hard for Pirlo to become the new Italy coach. The FIGC, backed by Malagò, said no.

The refusal was not about tactics or results. It was political. Pirlo’s role as a brand ambassador for a Russian betting company triggered strong negative reactions in the Italian political sphere, and Malagò chose not to challenge that backlash.

For Maldini and Leonardo, that veto cut deeper than a simple disagreement. They saw it as a direct blow to their authority, a signal that their room to manoeuvre would be tightly controlled from above. The relationship never recovered.

Conte, Mancini… and another ‘no’

Malagò tried to steer them towards other, more familiar names. On the table were Antonio Conte and a sensational return for Roberto Mancini.

Maldini and Leonardo refused to bend.

They argued that Mancini carried the same trust issues being raised against Pirlo. The coach who lifted Euro 2020 had walked away in 2023, resigning in the middle of the Euro 2024 qualifiers before swiftly accepting the Saudi Arabia national team job. Handing him the reins again, they felt, would reopen the same wounds and doubts.

Conte, meanwhile, raised a different red flag. His career pattern — intense, brilliant, and almost always over within two years — worried the pair with the 2030 World Cup four years away. For Maldini and Leonardo, Italy needed a long-term architect, not a short-cycle specialist.

So they looked elsewhere.

Thiago Motta idea shut down

Their preferred alternative was Thiago Motta, fresh from impressive spells with Spezia and Bologna and briefly with Juventus. A modern coach, tactically flexible, with a clear identity and the potential to build a cycle.

They proposed him. Malagò rejected that option as well, according to multiple reports.

That left the two sides entrenched. On one side, Maldini and Leonardo, clinging to a vision of autonomy and long-term planning. On the other, Malagò and the FIGC leadership, determined to keep control of the final call on the most powerful position in Italian football.

Final meeting, final break

The last attempt at reconciliation came on Monday. Maldini, Leonardo and Malagò met for what turned into a decisive conversation.

Malagò tried to pull them away from Pirlo and back towards the names he trusted most, especially Conte and Mancini. Maldini and Leonardo held their line, repeating their concerns over both candidates and defending their own shortlist.

No compromise emerged. No shared project, no shared coach.

By the end of the day, Maldini’s reign as Italy’s technical director was over, his resignation letter barely outlasting the ink on his contract. Leonardo followed him out.

A new coach, a fractured vision

The FIGC Council meets at 12:00 CET (11:00 GMT), and Malagò is expected to confirm the new Italy coach. The decision will come without the men originally hired to shape the sporting project.

Italy will soon have a new face on the touchline. What it no longer has, at least for now, is Maldini’s hand on the wheel of its future.