Napoli President Responds To Antonio Conte's Links with Italian National Team Job
#Aurelio De Laurentiis#Antonio Conte#Italy national team#FIGC#Napoli#Serie A#Giovanni Malago#governance
📌 Key Takeaways
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis would permit coach Antonio Conte to take the Italy national team job if asked.
De Laurentiis made the statement in Los Angeles while criticizing the Italian football federation as "disorganized."
He endorsed Giovanni Malago as the ideal candidate to lead a reformed Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
Antonio Conte remains focused on leading Napoli's Serie A title challenge, with the club currently in second place.
📖 Full Retelling
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has surprisingly stated in Los Angeles, during a media event for the club's documentary screening, that he would be willing to allow his head coach Antonio Conte to take charge of the Italian national team if the opportunity arose and Conte requested it. This declaration comes amidst a period of significant transition for Italian football following the resignation of federation president Gabriele Gravina, and De Laurentiis framed his openness as a gesture of support for the national cause, albeit with major reservations about its current state.
However, De Laurentiis paired this unexpected admission with a scathing critique of the governance of Italian football. He expressed serious doubts that a coach of Conte's caliber would even want to lead what he described as a "completely disorganized" setup under the current Italian Football Federation (FIGC). The Napoli owner emphasized that until a "serious partner" is in place to reform the federation's structure, such a move might be unappealing. This criticism directly ties into his strong public endorsement of Giovanni Malago, the former president of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), whom De Laurentiis believes would be the perfect candidate to first serve as a commissioner and then lead a renewed federation.
The immediate future, however, remains focused on Napoli's domestic campaign. Antonio Conte is the central figure in Napoli's sporting project, tasked with returning the club to the summit of Serie A. Currently sitting second in the league table, seven points behind the leaders, Conte's primary objective is to guide the Partenopei through the remainder of the season in a sustained title challenge. While speculation about a sensational return to the Azzurri bench for Conte—who previously managed Italy from 2014 to 2016—will persist, De Laurentiis's comments have framed it as a hypothetical scenario contingent on a fundamental restructuring of Italian football's leadership.
🏷️ Themes
Football Management, National Team, Governance Critique
The Italian Football Federation (Italian: Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio, pronounced [federatˈtsjoːne itaˈljaːna ˈdʒwɔːko ˈkaltʃo]; FIGC [fiddʒitˈtʃi]), known colloquially as Federcalcio (pronounced [ˌfederˈkaltʃo]), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technic...
Aurelio De Laurentiis (born 24 May 1949) is an Italian film producer. He owns the film production company Filmauro and the Italian football club Napoli (of which he is also chairman).
Antonio Conte (Italian pronunciation: [anˈtɔːnjo ˈkonde]; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world.
Playing as a midfielder, Conte ...
Naples is the regional capital of Campania, Italy. With a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits (as of 2025), it is the largest city in southern Italy and the third-largest city of Italy after Rome and Milan, while its province-level municipality is the third most populous me...
Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has surprisingly stated he would allow Antonio Conte to take charge of the Italy national team if requested. However, the Napoli owner paired that admission with a scathing critique of the current state of Italian football governance. De Laurentiis willing to share head coach De Laurentiis addressed the media during the screening of Napoli's 'AG4IN' documentary in Los Angeles, where he was questioned about the possibility of Conte transitioning into a role with the Azzurri. While Conte is the centerpiece of Napoli’s current sporting project, De Laurentiis suggested he would not be the one to block such a move. 'I'll lend him' De Laurentiis has signaled that while he values Conte's leadership in Naples, he acknowledges the unique pull of the national team. He said, as quoted by Gianluca DiMarzio: "Conte to the national team? Yes, I think I'd lend him if he asked me." The club's president, however, expressed some major doubts about the current setup of the Italian football federation (FIGC): "Until there's a serious partner, I think he'd refrain from imagining himself leading something completely disorganized." Support for Malago The conversation regarding the national team comes at a time of transition for Italian football following the resignation of Gabriele Gravina. De Laurentiis has wasted no time in identifying the man he believes should lead the federation into a new era, throwing his significant weight behind former CONI president Giovanni Malago. "He would be perfect to be first the commissioner and then the president of a new federation," De Laurentiis explained. What comes next? Rumors of Conte taking over the Italian national team for a second time are likely to remain a topic of debate for some time to come. However, what is clear is that he will continue his efforts to keep Napoli competing for the Serie A title until the end of the season. The Partenopei currently sit second in Serie A, seven points behind leaders
