Antonio Conte Reportedly Reconsidering Italy Job After Receiving Death Threats

Antonio Conte is reportedly reconsidering his position as Italy manager after apparently receiving death threats on the back of a furious spat regarding Juventus star Claudio Marchisio.

As reported by football-italia.net, the former Bianconeri boss has been embroiled in a public row with Juve patron John Elkann after the midfielder picked up a potentially serious knee injury while on international duty.

As noted in the aforementioned piece, Elkann described Conte as a “cherry-picker” and claimed he works the players too hard. The Azzurri boss responded by claiming Elkann had no comparable issues during his tenure as Juventus boss, during which he won three Serie A titles.

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But it seems as though the affair has taken an especially unsavoury twist, with FIGC President Carlo Tavecchio revealing on Radio Rai (h/t football-italia.net) that Conte has received subsequent death threats and according to the piece, he is now having second thoughts about continuing as manager of the national team.

“I saw him shaken this morning,” Tavecchio said. “After yesterday’s controversy, he received death threats on the internet.” The president then declined to comment on the jibes from Elkann, merely stating that under Conte “Juve made Italian football history”.

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David Amoyal of gianlucadimarzio.com thinks Conte could well be better off leaving his post:

It’s difficult to argue with Conte’s record as a manager. His work with the Bianconeri was magnificent as the principles instilled by him helped the club establish a hegemony on Serie A that is still eminent. Indeed, while Juve boss Massimiliano Allegri is receiving rightful praise for pushing this team to the quarter-finals of the Champions League, the foundations of this burgeoning side were laid during Conte’s tenure.

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Juventus’ frustrations are understandable given Marchisio now joins midfielders Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo in the treatment room, but for angst to spill over into the reported death threats is completely unacceptable.

Conte now must somehow recompose himself as he leads Italy into an important European Championships qualifier with Bulgaria and a friendly against England.