Mancini Returns as Italy Coach Amid FIGC Turmoil

Roberto Mancini is back in charge of the Azzurri. An emergency solution, born from a crisis entirely of the federation’s own making.

The FIGC confirmed the 59-year-old’s return as Italy head coach in an official social media announcement, ending a turbulent search that had spiralled since Gennaro Gattuso’s resignation in April. Sky Italia reports that Mancini will be formally presented on Wednesday.

He arrives fresh from a brief spell with Qatari side Al-Sadd and a stint in charge of Saudi Arabia, ready to pick up the reins of the national team once more.

Pirlo Blocked, Maldini and Leonardo Walk Out

This was not the plan.

Andrea Pirlo was on the brink of the job, only for FIGC president Giovanni Malagò to slam the door shut at the eleventh hour. The trigger: Pirlo’s ambassadorial role with a Russian betting company, a conflict Malagò was not prepared to tolerate.

The late U-turn detonated inside the federation. Technical director Paolo Maldini and adviser Leonardo, only 16 days into their roles, resigned on the spot. Two heavyweight figures gone in a flash, leaving a vacuum at precisely the moment Italy needed clarity.

Negotiations with other leading candidates went nowhere. One by one, primary targets fell away. Time did not.

The pressure finally told. The FIGC turned back to the man who knows Coverciano, knows the badge, and knows the weight of the job.

Malagò Turns to a Familiar Face – and Calls Ranieri

Facing the media on Tuesday, Malagò laid out why he had gone back to Mancini and moved quickly to reshape the structure around him.

“Time was running out and I thought the right person to be coach was Roberto Mancini. He's the best possible choice,” he said, underlining both urgency and conviction in the decision.

There was another twist. The role of technical director, briefly vacated in the fallout, has not vanished. Malagò revealed that the FIGC had approved an amendment to its statute, allowing another figure to take on the presidency of Club Italia and share responsibility at the top of the sporting pyramid.

He has turned to Claudio Ranieri for that task. The legendary former Leicester City boss has agreed to become technical director, Malagò confirmed, signing his commitment just minutes before the announcement.

“I needed someone to share the choice of Roberto Mancini as coach, and that person is Claudio Ranieri,” the president said.

So Italy move forward with a familiar coach and a seasoned statesman overseeing the technical project: Mancini on the touchline, Ranieri in the tower.

The search that began with Gattuso’s exit, lurched through Pirlo’s blocked appointment and cost Maldini and Leonardo their posts, has ended where Italian football so often does in times of trouble – back with proven hands, back with experience, back with men who already know what this job can take out of you.

Now the question is simple: can this hastily rebuilt axis of Mancini and Ranieri steady a federation shaken by its own decisions and drag the Azzurri back to where Italy expects to be?