La Gazzetta dello Sport reiterates that the FIGC has no intention of paying Napoli a fee to appoint Luciano Spalletti as head coach of the Italy national team, explaining why doing so could cause legal issues for the federation.
Spalletti is the current frontrunner to be appointed as the new coach of the Azzurri following Roberto Mancini’s resignation on Sunday afternoon, although landing their target is already proving to be tricky for the FIGC.
Multiple reports outline that Spalletti and Napoli agreed upon a clause at the time of the coach’s departure that means teams must pay a fee if they were to appoint the 64-year-old before the end of his original contract with the Partenopei, which would have expired in the summer of 2024.
That fee is believed to stand at €3m, although La Gazzetta have revealed that the figure decreases over time, precisely by €250,000 per month.
However, the FIGC has never paid a fee in order to appoint a new coach and does not intend to break that tradition.
Given that FIGC is supposed to have a fair and equal relationship with all clubs under its jurisdiction, handing a significant fee to Napoli, for a coach they do not currently employ, would raise serious questions over the organisation’s legitimacy, La Gazzetta writes.
There are also likely to be budgetary restrictions within the FIGC that would make it difficult to spend close to €3m on appointing a new coach.
The situation has been described as a “political obstacle”, and a solution is still yet to be found.
Why doesn’t Napoli drop the release clause fee in the interest of the national team? Its pathetic to think that Italy could miss out on appointing Spaletti because of money and greed.
Blame Spalletti and signing a contract he didnt intend to uphold. He messed up.
ADLs fault triggering Spallettis one extension when he had no intention of staying
As usual, a simple thing such as appointing a national team manager in Italian calcio has to be turned into a circus.
Spalletti is a millionaire he can pay out of his own pocket, he broke the contract with SSC Napoli, he’ll make the money back especially if the Italian team would do better in the World Cup or European Championship.