Roberto Mancini is officially returning as Italy head coach three years after leaving the role, with Claudio Ranieri appointed as Club Italia's new technical director, FIGC President Giovanni Malagò confirmed on Tuesday.
The announcement caps a turbulent 17-day saga that saw Paolo Maldini and Leonardo resign as technical director and special advisor respectively, after their preferred candidate Andrea Pirlo was blocked over a global brand ambassador contract with a banned Russian gambling site.
Malagò, addressing the media, revealed that he went back to his preferred candidate — Mancini — after the Pirlo deal collapsed. "The person I share that vision with is Claudio Ranieri, who a few minutes ago guaranteed he would take the role," Malagò said. "He is the person who will take this very important and delicate role."
Mancini previously led the Azzurri from 2018 to 2023, steering them to glory at EURO 2020 but also overseeing the failure to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. He left the post to take a lucrative offer as Saudi Arabia head coach, a spell that lasted a year before he moved to Qatari side Al-Sadd.
Ranieri, 74, retired from coaching in 2024 but was convinced by his beloved Roma to return that November. He left Roma earlier this season after disagreements with coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Now he takes on the technical director role at Club Italia, a newly empowered position following a statute change that shifts authority from the FIGC President alone to a shared vision between the president and the technical director.
The decision has not been without controversy. Serie A clubs, who had favoured Antonio Conte for the role, expressed disappointment at being excluded from the consultation process. Lega Serie A President Ezio Simonelli issued a statement pledging support despite the friction: "After intense and certainly not simple hours, we cannot but support the soundness of the choice made by President Malagò."
A joint press conference with Mancini and Ranieri is scheduled for Wednesday at 18:00 local time.
Sources
- https://football-italia.net/official-italy-appoint-mancini-coach-ranieri/
- https://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Nazionale/29-07-2026/serie-a-malumori-mancini-ct-retroscena-malago.shtml
