Former FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio claims “I was almost able to convince” Paulo Dybala to play for Italy.
The Argentine international has Italian ancestry, and while he’s always been clear about wanting to represent the Albiceleste, the former Federation chief insists things were different behind the scenes.
“[FIFA President Gianni] Infantino invited me to the World Cup final,” Tavecchio told Il Messaggero.
Former FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio claims “I was almost able to convince” Paulo Dybala to play for Italy.
The Argentine international has Italian ancestry, and while he’s always been clear about wanting to represent the Albiceleste, the former Federation chief insists things were different behind the scenes.
“[FIFA President Gianni] Infantino invited me to the World Cup final,” Tavecchio told Il Messaggero.
“I’m supporting Argentina, they’re half Italian and Dybala plays for them. I was almost able to convince him to play with us. With him and [Mario] Balotelli it would have been a different story.
“I sent [former CT Giampiero] Ventura to Nice. He [Balotelli] had recovered after Brazil, but nothing. Italy hasn’t produced a striker like him in years and we play without him, it’s crazy.
“Now [Roberto] Mancini starts with him. We’d surely have beaten Sweden with Mario on the pitch, even if today we’re struggling against Saudi Arabia.
“He [Mario] is above all an Italy fan, I know what the Azzurri mean to him. He’d definitely have scored a goal.”
Tavecchio was then invited to reflect further on the failure to qualify for this summer’s World Cup.
“After the debacle I resigned despite having a majority. I wouldn’t do that again, now that commissioners have had to appointed.
“The failure was born in Brazil in 2014. There was no change there, Balotelli got slaughtered, the FIGC failed and I became President.
“I realised that the level we were at was one of deep crisis. We took [Antonio] Conte and for two years we used him as a defibrillator, the best motivator in the world.
“At Euro 2016 we beat Spain, a Belgium of baby phenomena and went out to a champion like Germany with those ridiculous penalties from [Graziano] Pellè and [Simone] Zaza. [Emanuele] Giaccherini looked like a giant!
“I also tried to get [Carlo] Ancelotti, but the FIGC can only pay €1.5m for a Coach. There are those who earn €20m at the top clubs…”
Ventura was appointed to replace Conte, but should have had Marcello Lippi working above him as technical director…
“Lippi fell through because there was a conflict of interest which – if there was – had always been there because his son has been an agent for 20 years,” Tavecchio pointed out.
“Ventura got seven wins and two draws: what can you change? We all shared this emergency solution, not just in the FIGC. They were in agreement at CONI too.
“There was no rebellion from the older heads, after the Spain game there was no air of rebellion, but there was no air of victory either.
“Ventura kept telling me that we’d go through, but on the plane back from Sweden I started worrying. Then I heard that there were 30,000 Neapolitans in Milan and [Lorenzo] Insigne doesn’t play, you insist on crossing the ball for a striker who isn’t there…”
Tavecchio is a controversial character himself, having made racist comments during his first election campaign.
“I made an off-colour joke, I know that. But I’m also proud of my 30 years of African missions: Togo, Benin. I could explain to you the migration from the south of the world.
“I was talking about youth teams being invaded by kids who are impoverished and treated as goods by Italians.”