Italy: Tavecchio puts all World Cup failure blame on Ventura, refuses to resign

FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio blamed axed Coach Giampiero Ventura for making “completely the wrong decisions” in the World Cup play-off.



Tavecchio has refused to resign, but sat down for an interview with Le Iene, of which a snippet was released this afternoon. “The debacle was a technical one. He made completely wrong decisions on the line-up. It was the fault of the Coach.”



It was pointed out to the Federation chief that he too had chosen Ventura for the job. “I know. I haven’t been sleeping for four days. I sleep and I wake,” he said, appearing on the verge of tears.



“We should’ve gone around those Swedish giants with the little players, keeping the ball on the ground. Instead, those players were on the bench. It was completely the wrong line-up.”



Pressure has mounted since Monday night for Tavecchio to resign. Recent reports that Carlo Ancelotti has turned down an offer to manage, coupled with Max Allegri and Roberto Mancini taking their names off the shortlist, should add to that pressure.