Former Italy head coach Roberto Mancini has broken his silence after leaving the post, saying he didn’t get the support he needed from FIGC head Gabriele Gravina. Mancini resigned from the position on Sunday amid reports he will be moving on to the Saudi national team.
Speaking with La Repubblica, Mancini spoke about the build up to his resignation and explained the reasons for leaving the Azzurri after five years in charge:
“I explained to him (Gravina) that in these months he had to give me peace of mind, he didn’t, and I resigned. Should I have done it earlier? Maybe. But I left the National team with 25 days to the next game, not three.”
“For a year, Gravina wanted to revolutionize my staff. I made it clear to him that at most he could put in a couple more figures, but he couldn’t deprive me of two people from a working and winning team. If anything, it was me who could replace a staff member.”
“Was it is true that I wanted to remove the exemption clause in case of not qualifying for Euro 2024? It could have been a signal. I had asked for it to work quietly during these months. Clearly I would have left if things did not go well and we did not manage to qualify.”
