Cannavaro: ‘The system in Italy hasn’t worked in recent years’

Fabio Cannavaro underlined how Italian football needs ‘to find new solutions’ following their recent World Cup absences and disappointing international performances.

The Azzurri failed to qualify for the World Cups in 2018 and 2022, winning a European Championship in the middle, and are now at risk of losing out on a place in Euro 2024. The pressure is on Luciano Spalletti’s side for their final two qualifiers against North Macedonia and Ukraine.

Many problems or solutions have been highlighted by pundits, professionals and onlookers in recent years, ranging from the lack of stadium ownership and financial instability to poor TV rights deals and insufficient advertising.

Speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Tell me how football was’ event at Maschio Angioino via ANSA, Cannavaro first discussed the issues plaguing Italian football and the national team.

“The system hasn’t worked in recent years. We need to find new solutions and understand why we no longer produce many champions, why it’s so difficult to go to a World Cup, why we risk the European Championship, things that were normal for us.

“There are certainly many other sports that young people practice now, they also have fewer children, there are many things to reflect on. But it is not up to me, but to those who govern football to understand what needs to be changed.”

He spoke about the possibility of taking over the Italy national team one day in the future.

“I think that those who do my job seek always to reach the maximum. We need to work, study, update ourselves and then we’ll see what happens in the future.”

Finally, Cannavaro discussed Napoli’s slow start this season and the work of coach Rudi Garcia.

“Napoli certainly didn’t start as we all hoped, but it wasn’t easy to replace a coach like Spalletti. We need to let Garcia work and then in the end we will see the results. Napoli are performing well and not so well, the fans certainly always ask for the best.”