ROME – Former Italy defender Paolo Maldini was named technical director of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) on July 11 as the Azzurri seek to get back on track after failing to qualify for the World Cup for the third successive time.
Maldini, who won 126 caps for Italy, served in the same role for four years at AC Milan, where he had spent his entire playing career and helped the side to win seven Serie A titles.
His appointment comes after Giovanni Malago was elected FIGC president in June, after heading the organising committee for February’s Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
“President Giovanni Malago is pleased to announce that Paolo Maldini has accepted the position of technical director of the federation,” the FIGC said in a statement on July 11.
Maldini will also assume the role of president of Club Italia, the body overseeing all national teams across all age groups, men’s and women’s.
This is an unprecedented dual role in the FIGC, giving him ultimate authority over all sporting decisions.
The FIGC added that Brazilian Leonardo would serve as an adviser to his former Milan teammate Maldini.
Local media reported that the 58-year-old Maldini had signed a contract until 2028.
Malago, the former head of the Italian National Olympic Committee, succeeded Gabriele Gravina, who resigned after a shock World Cup qualifying exit in April sparked widespread outrage among fans and politicians.
Maldini will begin his tenure by searching for a new Italy coach after the federation parted ways with Gennaro Gattuso following a defeat by Bosnia and Herzegovina on penalties in a World Cup play-off in March, which left the four-time champions out of football’s showpiece event again.
Former Italy international Antonio Conte has been touted as a possible successor, having held the role between 2014 and 2016.
The 56-year-old Conte left Napoli in June after two seasons.
Change also appears to be afoot in Germany.
The German Football Association (DFB) has completed first discussions with coach Jurgen Klopp in New York and is confident of a deal for him to take over the national team, it said on July 11.
DFB bosses are in New York for talks with Klopp, Red Bull’s head of global soccer, who is also a pundit for Germany’s Magenta TV during the World Cup.
The DFB confirmed earlier in July that the German was their preferred choice to succeed Julian Nagelsmann, who left following their shock World Cup round-of-32 exit to unheralded Paraguay.
Klopp is one of the most successful club coaches.
The 59-year-old won domestic league and Cup titles with Borussia Dortmund before leading Liverpool to almost every major honour during his nine-year spell from 2015 to 2024, including Champions League and English Premier League triumphs.
Meanwhile, Senegal fired coach Pape Thiaw on July 11, saying their results at the World Cup necessitated a change at the helm of the team.
Senegal’s campaign ended after they let slip a 2-0 lead with five minutes remaining against Belgium in the last 32, before going down 3-2 in extra time.
French daily L’Equipe reported that Patrick Vieira, the French World Cup winner who was born in Dakar, is among the favourites to take over. REUTERS, AFP
