Fabio Cannavaro Declines Offer to Coach Uzbekistan National Team

World Cup-winning defender Fabio Cannavaro will not become head coach of Uzbekistan’s national football team, according to sportsdaily.ru, which cited a source close to the talks.

The Uzbekistan Football Association had been in negotiations with the Italian, but Cannavaro declined the offer. He gave the same response to Kazakhstan, making clear that he hopes to secure a managerial role in Italy this season should a club part ways with its current coach.

Earlier reports suggested Cannavaro had explored the possibility of joining CSKA Moscow over the summer, though discussions never progressed beyond a preliminary agreement.

After a celebrated playing career with several leading European clubs, Cannavaro moved into coaching, managing teams in the Middle East and China. In 2019 he briefly led China’s national side, before taking charge of Benevento between 2022 and 2023. He later coached Udinese in the spring of 2024 and was appointed manager of Dinamo Zagreb that December.