Former FIGC commissioner Roberto Fabbricini says Italy CT Roberto Mancini was “a good choice” but “not mine” and wasn’t even the preferred candidate.
The CONI secretary general was appointed by the Olympic committee to oversee Italian football, after elections failed to return a new President.
He ended up being in that role for close to a year, during which Mancini was appointed and a decree was passed to reduce Serie B to 19 teams.
Former FIGC commissioner Roberto Fabbricini says Italy CT Roberto Mancini was “a good choice” but “not mine” and wasn’t even the preferred candidate.
The CONI secretary general was appointed by the Olympic committee to oversee Italian football, after elections failed to return a new President.
He ended up being in that role for close to a year, during which Mancini was appointed and a decree was passed to reduce Serie B to 19 teams.
The latter move was particularly controversial, as many argued Fabbricini had no mandate to make that change, given he never won an election.
“The FIGC is a confederation which saw the commissionership as a kind of pitch invasion,” Fabbricini reflected, speaking to Foglio Sportivo.
“The CT? That’s another decision which was challenged by the confederations. Mancini was a good choice, which I shared, but not mine.
“Alessandro Costacurta was given full responsibility for the matter by CONI. He went ahead at 1,000km/h with only three candidates: Carlo Ancelotti, his preference, Roberto Mancini, and Gigi Di Biagio.
“I’d have considered some Serie A Coaches, maybe Marco Giampaolo or Gian Piero Gasperini. Also [Claudio] Ranieri.
“Costacurta didn’t listen to us though, he said: ‘don’t make me laugh’.”