FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio discusses Graziano Pellè’s exclusion – “it was impossible to do otherwise”.
The striker was sent home from the Italy squad after refusing to shake CT Giampiero Ventura’s hand, as well as launching verbal abuse.
“The exclusion of Pellè, though it’s temporary and not definitive, was taken thoughtfully and painfully,” Tavecchio explained to Il Messaggero.
FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio discusses Graziano Pellè’s exclusion – “it was impossible to do otherwise”.
The striker was sent home from the Italy squad after refusing to shake CT Giampiero Ventura’s hand, as well as launching verbal abuse.
“The exclusion of Pellè, though it’s temporary and not definitive, was taken thoughtfully and painfully,” Tavecchio explained to Il Messaggero.
“His gesture was on all the televisions around the world, and the words that followed did the rest. In my opinion, it was impossible to do otherwise.”
Ventura has received some criticism, with the Azzurri unimpressive against Spain and Macedonia, despite taking four points.
“Others can decide if the criticism of Ventura is right, but for me it’s exaggerated. If we’d lost [to Macedonia] it would be different.
“What we got yesterday was a positive result in terms of the table, and in a manner that showed the Coach is trying things out.
“He has just arrived, the team had only been together for a week. You can’t ask for miracles, and meanwhile we’re joint-top with Spain.
“If certain presuppositions were true then we’d have been beaten before we even started against Spain. Instead, were it not for some errors on our part, we could have won.
“Last night we had a bit of a drop, but I think that’s to be expected when a Coach is trying out ideas. He’s focusing on youngsters, we have hope.
“Now we have two fixtures with Liechtenstein and Albania, we have a month, the Coach will evaluate and there are some good players who could come back.”