Dubai: Al Ahli adviser Fabio Cannavaro said “it would be difficult to say no” to his old club Juventus if they asked him to replace coach Antonio Conte, who is currently serving a ten-month ban for match-fixing.
Conte, 43, was suspended on Friday by the Italian Football Federation for allegedly failing to alert authorities to an attempted fix while he was coach of Sienna.
Cannavaro, 38, who played 127 games and scored seven goals over two spells at Juventus, has been touted as a possible short-term replacement, despite the fact he only obtained his coaching licence last week.
“What would I do if Juventus called me? It’s those challenges, and those teams, that it would be difficult to say no to,” the 2006 World Cup-winning captain told Italian radio.
“The only problem with Conte will be the fact he can’t sit on the bench on a Sunday. A real coach is seen by his day-to-day work in training.”
Cannavaro added: “Not being on the bench is a problem, but I think they’d be able to deal with it anyway. With the technology they have nowadays, someone can sit in the stands, view the game and be able to have some control over team orders anyway.”
Conte’s assistant Angelo Alessio was also banned, leaving another member of the coach’s coaching staff Massimo Carrera to oversee Juventus’ 4-2 win over Napoli in the Supercoppa Italiana in Beijing on Saturday. In the meantime, Cannavaro’s potential interest in the Juve job, along with his newly acquired coaching credentials, could signal an end to his two-year association with Al Ahli.
