The Italian football crisis has reached a new and shameful depth. Just days after it was confirmed that the Italian national team will miss a World Cup for the third consecutive time, a report from the newspaper La Repubblica has sparked widespread outrage by revealing an internal scandal related to the players' financial demands before their crucial playoff match. According to reports from Europe, prior to the UEFA playoff final against Bosnia and Herzegovina, a group of players approached the Italian Football Federation to negotiate a bonus for qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. The accumulated tension and failure to secure a decisive result led the match to a penalty shootout, where the Azzurra collapsed with a 4-1 defeat, sealing a monumental failure that leaves them out of the biggest tournament for twelve consecutive years. The squad, which apparently showed excessive confidence, requested a total bonus of 300,000 euros. This amount, divided among the 28 players, represented approximately 10,000 euros for each one. The response to such a demand was firm and came directly from the head coach, Gennaro Gattuso. The coach, visibly annoyed by his players' attitude, rejected the proposal, just like the federation. In the decisive match, Italy could not get past the 1-1 draw with Bosnia during regular time. After the elimination and the leak of the financial requests, a mass resignation followed among the team's high command. Gennaro Gattuso resigned as head coach, followed by the federation's president, Gabriele Gravina, and the legendary Gianluigi Buffon, who was the head of the delegation. This new scandal has left a deep wound among Italian fans, who question the commitment of a generation of players who seemed to prioritize money over the honor of restoring the prestige of Italian football. The consequences of this episode were not long in coming. A heavy atmosphere was felt in Zenica.
