ANDREA PIRLO announced yesterday he is no longer in contention to become Italy head coach following criticism of his commercial links with a Russian betting company. The former Azzurri midfielder, 47, had emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Gennaro Gattuso after Pep Guardiola declined the job. Pirlo, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, defended his involvement with the company in an Instagram ⁠post. “After learning last night that I am no longer the candidate to lead the Italian national team, I believe it is my duty to clarify a few points,” he wrote. He signed an ambassadorial agreement with Fonbet in October and said the collaboration was exclusively commercial and sporting in nature.