Guys, I came to talk about the World Cup but I came across a story that will leave you stunned. It turns out that Andrea Pirlo, who was almost confirmed as Italy's head coach, has been left out of the position. The reason? A certain Sergey Lomakin, a 53-year-old Russian betting magnate who gave him a contract as a "global ambassador" for his company Fonbet. And of course, Italy has very strict laws against gambling advertising, and on top of that we are talking about a Russian company in the midst of the Ukraine war. So, the FIGC didn't even want to consider him.
But the best part is when you scratch a little to find out who this Lomakin is. The guy was a professional football player in his youth, was even nominated as Master of Sport in Russia, and then hung up his boots to build an empire from scratch. He started selling imported coffee, set up the Kopeyka chain of low-cost supermarkets, then Fix Price (which came to be worth over 8 billion dollars on the London Stock Exchange), and ended up founding Fonbet, Russia's largest betting platform.
Furthermore, this guy has four football clubs in four different countries: Rodina Moscow (recently promoted to the Russian Premier League), and teams in Cyprus, Latvia, and the United Arab Emirates. Precisely, United FC Dubai is the club that Pirlo has signed for as coach… after the Italian national team thing fell through. Coincidence, right?
And to top it off, the article in Corriere and El Mundo says that Lomakin has been involved in embezzlement cases, that a criminal case was closed in 2018 thanks to a friend of Putin, and that although officially he says that he has no interests in Fonbet, the photos of Pirlo with him and the trips to Moscow in May of this year tell a different story.
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Photos: elmundo.es
There you have Lomakin with Pirlo. They smile for the photo, but the biggest loser is the latter, who is left without the Italian bench due to a decision that perhaps wasn't even his.
The Lomakin empire in numbers
And now what? Pirlo has signed for United FC Dubai. A lot of money, yes, but we already know how this works: when Russian money knocks on the door, few resist. Lomakin claims he has no ties with Fonbet, but it turns out he's the owner of the club that Pirlo coaches, and Fonbet is the company that sponsors Pirlo. Come on, if there's no connection, it's because they don't want to see it.
Look, this guy's story is long. He was also accused of embezzling money from a Gazprombank loan for a shoe store chain, and the case was dropped in a very suspicious way after a colleague of Putin intervened.1.200 million dollar fortune and zero blemishes on the official record. Logical.
LOOK: The FIGC has already made clear that any ties with Russian betting companies are incompatible with the role of head coach. Pirlo knew it and still agreed to be the face of Fonbet and traveled to Moscow in May 2026 to promote the brand. The question is: did he know before he was considered for the Azzurra or was it a "now I'm doing it on a whim"?
Do you think the FIGC did right by banning Pirlo for his ties with Russian betting?
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Do you think Lomakin is lying when he says he doesn't have
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