# Guardiola Declines Italy Coach Role for Personal Reasons

- Topic: football
- Source: Sky Sports
- Published: 2026-07-24
- Original: https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12040/13566556/italian-football-federation-holds-talks-with-pep-guardiola-about-replacing-gennaro-gattuso-as-head-coach
- Language: en
- Image: https://e1.365dm.com/26/05/1920x1080/skysports-pep-guardiola-man-city_7239313.jpg?20260504215401

Pep Guardiola has turned down the Italy head coach position, citing personal reasons. The Italian Football Federation offered him a central role in their 'Azzurro project' to rebuild Italian football. Guardiola was in talks for three days before making his decision.

## Key takeaways

- Guardiola cited personal reasons for declining the role
- Italy's 'Azzurro project' aimed to rebuild the national team and other teams
- The FIGC offered Guardiola a central role in the project

> Summary by Daily Read Bytes. Read the original at https://www.skysports.com/football/news/12040/13566556/italian-football-federation-holds-talks-with-pep-guardiola-about-replacing-gennaro-gattuso-as-head-coach