Ancelotti set to become Italy coach
MILAN: Carlo Ancelotti is set to be given the job of reviving the fortunes of Italy’s national team, according to reports on Tuesday.
Ancelotti, who was sacked by Bayern Munich last September, met with Italian Football Federation (FIGC) commissioner Roberto Fabbricini and sub-commissioner Alessandro Costacurta in a Rome hotel on Monday, Corriere dello Sport reported.
Sky Sport Italia said the 58-year-old has been offered a two-year contract, which is likely to be less lucrative than his previous deal with the German champions.
Italy have been without a permanent coach since Gian Piero Ventura was sacked after they failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years after losing to Sweden in a twolegged playoff in November.
Ancelotti, who has also managed Chelsea, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Juventus, Roma and Paris Saint-germain, has three Champions League titles to his name as a coach. He has also won the league in Italy, France, Germany and England.
The FIGC budget for a new coach and his staff is five million euros ($6.1 million) per year, which would be a big drop from the reported 12 million euros plus bonuses that Ancelotti earned at Bayern Munich.
Ancelotti joined Bayern in 2016 and won the Bundesliga title in his first season but has been out of football since he was sacked following a 3-0 defeat to Paris Saint-germain in the Champions League.
Costacurta is reported to have offered Ancelotti, who has also been linked with former club Chelsea and the soon-to-be-vacant manager’s job at Arsenal, a free hand in choosing his staff.
Ancelotti’s son Davide, who was his assistant at Bayern, could play a role as well as former stars such as Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon and Paolo Maldini.
Costacurta, who was coached by Ancelotti at AC Milan in the 1980s, was appointed to find a successor to Ventura and set a dateline of May 20 for the appointment of a new coach.
Among the other names touted were Zenit St Petersburg coach Roberto Mancini, Chelsea boss Antonio Conte and former Leicester coach Claudio Ranieri, now in charge of French club Nantes.
Italy’s under-21 coach Luigi Di Biagio has been filling the position with the four-time world champions on an interim basis.
FIFA SET TO REVAMP CLUB WORLD CUP
GENEVA: FIFA is forcing the pace on talks over a USD 25 billion offer to revamp the Club World Cup and create a global team competition. FIFA President Gianni Infantino is seeking an urgent meeting in the next week with leaders of the six continental governing bodies, following his hosting of invited officials from some of Europe’s top clubs. That session was held last Friday, the world soccer body said. The European Club Association has strongly opposed FIFA’S hope for a four-yearly club tournament starting in 2021, which could rival the Uefa-organized Champions League.
UEFA has also been sceptical of the Club World Cup expansion plan, and last year also proposed a Global Nations League to develop from its European version which kicks off in September. However, a similar worldwide project is tied into the FIFAcontrolled USD 25 billion, 12-year offer from a Japanese-led consortium including i nvestors from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.