Allegri, Conte, Malago and Abete: Two major Italy national team decisions
Two major decisions affecting the Italy national team will have to be made in the coming weeks, as Massimiliano Allegri and Antonio Conte emerge as the frontrunners to replace Gennaro Gattuso as CT, and Giovanni Malago and Giancarlo Abete look set to to do battle for Gabriele Gravina’s old position as President of the FIGC.
Italy decisions to be made: Conte or Allegri and Malago or Abete
Tuesday’s newspapers in Italy, including La Gazzetta dello Sport, Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosports, are in agreement that Allegri and Conte are the two clear favourites to take over as head coach of the Italy national team following Gattuso’s departure after the World Cup play-off defeat against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of March.
Roberto Mancini, who already held the position of Italy CT between 2018 and 2023, remains the third-choice candidate as things stand according to Tuesday’s updates.
Recent reports claim that Allegri will become the first-choice candidate should Malago be appointed the new President of the FIGC. 18 Serie A teams voted in favour of appointing Malago on Monday.
La Gazzetta dello Sport indicates that the relationship between Allegri and his current employers in Milan is not particularly settled and that the coach will ask for more decision-making power should the team achieve a top-four finish this season. Should Allegri not receive the assurances he is seeking from Milan, he could potentially seek to terminate his contract.
However, la Gazzetta dello Sport adds that Conte is more likely to leave Napoli at the end of the season than Allegri is to leave Milan. The Napoli tactician, who has also already had a stint in charge of Italy, has shown an interest in returning, and Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis has made it clear that he wouldn’t stand in Conte’s way either.
The appointment of a new Italy national team head coach is not expected to take place until a new FIGC President is appointed, though, and the elections to appoint a new head of the Italian FA will not happen until June 22.
By the time that June 22 rolls around, the Serie A season will have been over for a month already and the situations for both Conte and Allegri under their current employers will become a lot clearer.
Malago and Abete are the current frontrunners to replace Gravina as President of the FIGC. former CONI chief Malago has received the backing from the Serie A clubs, who will have an 18% voting share at the FIGC elections in June.
Abete, who has formally served as FIGC President and more recently as head of the Lega Nazionale Dilettanti (Amateur Leagues), has also confirmed that he will challenge Malago for the role.