CONI President Giovanni Malagò confirms his faith in Italy coach Roberto Mancini, has high hopes for the Under-21 European Championship and hopes new rules can allow the Azzurri to keep more young players.
The Nazionale were shaken after a 5-2 Nations League defeat to Germany last night, a game they had been trailing 5-0 until late goals from Willy Gnonto and Alessandro Bastoni.
It raised more question marks over the future of Mancini, especially after failing to qualify for the 2022 World Cup.
“The 5-2 result speaks for itself, but in sport you always have the opportunity to make up for it,” Malagò told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The same day the senior team gave us a decidedly negative performance, the Under-21s booked their place in the European Championship with a 4-1 win over the Republic of Ireland. That team will then go to the Olympics and it means a great deal to us.”
However, the chief of the Italian Olympic Committee does not join in the chorus of disapproval around Mancini.
“When facing a team like Germany with so many young and untested players, these things can happen. Mancini is the right person for the job at this moment.
“What happened in the Euros last summer was almost a miracle, then we know what happened after that with the World Cup qualifiers, but this is sport.”
Meanwhile, Malagò announced plans to press forward with a rule change allowing for athletes born in Italy to be automatically eligible for their sports teams.
The current political rule does not exist, as someone born abroad from Italian heritage can get a passport, but those who were born in Italy without that lineage needs to wait until at least 18.
“This is purely a sporting proposal and I don’t want to hear anything about politics. It is sustained by many federations who are struggling and already lost athletes we trained and helped to develop only to lose them to other nations.”
Malagò: “Vicini a Ius soli sportivo. Niente voglio sapere della politica…” https://t.co/rZVEbl6R4v
— La Gazzetta dello Sport (@Gazzetta_it) June 15, 2022
Italy is really dumb when it comes to managing the Football Federation. Any serious footballing nation would have fired Mancini on the spot for his world cup debacle. Instead, our federation leaders bury their heads in the sand, say everything is alright, and back a manger that has lost his mind
lets fire Matt and move forward with Mancini