Antonio Conte has cancelled the additional Italy meet-up scheduled for February, the FIGC has announced.

The Azzurri CT has complained about the ‘difficulty’ of coaching the national team, due to a lack of time spent with the players.

Antonio Conte has cancelled the additional Italy meet-up scheduled for February, the FIGC has announced.

The Azzurri CT has complained about the ‘difficulty’ of coaching the national team, due to a lack of time spent with the players.

Following a meeting between Conte and the clubs, an extra Italy date was agreed for this month, however, clubs such as Juventus hinted that they wouldn’t release their players.

FIFA regulations state that international camps taking place ‘on dates outside the coordinated international match calendar’ do not take precedence over club competitions, so Serie A clubs would be under no obligation to release their players.

“The FIGC, on the recommendation of the Commissario Tecnico Antonio Conte, has decided not to proceed with the organisation of the meet-up of the National ‘A’ team scheduled for the period from February 9-11,” the governing body announced in a statement on its official website.

“Having evaluated the fact that some clubs have informally expressed that it would be difficult to release their players for the national team, the Coach, in agreement with the Federation President Carlo Tavecchio, has decided not to follow the program that was agreed with the technical staff of Club Italia.”

The site also carries a quote from Conte, in which he expresses a hope that the Azzurri can be given higher priority in future.

“Given the responses received we chose not to proceed with a stage that was likely not be helpful either to the national team or the clubs.

“However, I hope that from now we’ll be able to work together to find solutions to make sure the national team are considered a reference point for all of calcio.”

Federation President Carlo Tavecchio called for more communication from the clubs.

“On the issue of training camps, from the beginning we attempted to take a route which would avoid confrontation,” Tavecchio said.

“The decision not to proceed today is a sign of respect for the interests of everyone.

“However, I remind the Serie A clubs that since the protection and enhancement of the Azzurri is the Federation’s priority, toward which our plans are geared, they must work with us to identify ways to assist with that.

“In addition to things already set down by international standards, we must devise a more functional system for preparing the format and schedule of League and Cup competitions.

“From here on out, we expect coherent answers on these issues.”

Bygaby

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