Fonbet is who? The Russian company that dashed Andrea Pirlo's hopes for Italy

Fonbet is who? The Russian company that dashed Andrea Pirlo's hopes for Italy

Due to his connections to the Russian bookmaker Fonbet, Italian legend Andrea Pirlo is no longer a candidate to manage his nation's national team.

After the Azzurri were unable to qualify for a third consecutive FIFA World Cup, the midfielder was supposedly slated to take Gennaro Gattuso's position.

However, Pirlo's collaboration with the Moscow-based Fonbet has sparked criticism inside Italy's political establishment, with some arguing that he still supports Russia in spite of its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

established by a grandmaster of chess
The Russian chess grandmaster Anatoly Machulsky created Fonbet in 1994, and it has since expanded to become a major player in both the retail and online betting industries in Russia. Additionally, the original business has grown to Belarus and Kazakhstan.

In the meantime, Fortune Entertainment RG Limited's Cypriot license allows Fonbet Cyprus to operate in both Greece and Cyprus.

In 2021, Fonbet formed alliances with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, and AC Milan, Pirlo's old team. But once Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, these were canceled.

The company is still the title sponsor of the Russian Cup and Russia's professional ice hockey league, the KHL, among many other clubs and leagues in a variety of sports in Russia.

Additionally, the operator has funded programs like sledge hockey, amputee football, and sitting volleyball championships that are aimed at helping disabled veterans of the battle with Ukraine.

Critics of Pirlo's possible appointment have characterized the brand as pro-war as a result of these latter acts.

"Anyone who is or has been promoting Russia after 2022 should not hold national office," opposition senator Carlo Calenda told Italian media over the weekend.

Hiring Pirlo, according to European Parliament vice-president Pina Picierno, would "go in the exact opposite direction" of the cultural change required to improve Italy's football team's performance.

How did Pirlo become involved?
After being appointed by United FC of the United Arab Emirates Pro League, Pirlo was initially declared a Fonbet in October.

According to reports at the time, the sale was completed because of the relationship between Fonbet and United FC's owner, Sergey Lomakin. However, United FC has denied that Lomakin has any interest in the Russian brand in response to rumors of the controversy over the weekend.

Pirlo faced criticism last spring for attending an event at Moscow's Luzhniki Stadium with Marco Materazzi, a fellow World Cup champion and former colleague, at the same time that the Russian military launched major strikes on Kyiv.

Pirlo expressed his "great sadness" that he was no longer a candidate to captain the Italian national team in an Instagram post published on Sunday, July 26.

He characterized his partnership with Fonbet as a "professional collaboration" that is "exclusively commercial and sporting in nature."

He continued, "To give this collaboration a political meaning is to attribute to me beliefs that I have never expressed and that do not represent me."

"I regret that a sporting decision was so swiftly incorporated into a public discussion that ultimately gave me meanings and intentions that do not accurately reflect who I am."

Paolo Maldini, the Technical Director of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), has been tasked with taking Gattuso's place following Italy's defeat against Bosnia-Herzegovina in a World Cup qualifying play-off match.

Antonio Conte and Roberto Mancini are apparently being considered by the FIGC in light of the Pirlo scandal, while Pep Guardiola and Carlo Ancelotti have both already declined the position.