Cannavaro claims a mole spread false information inside Uzbekistan's camp

Fabio Cannavaro has claimed that someone within the Uzbekistan national team setup regularly spread false information about his coaching staff. The Italian believes part of the criticism he received was down to him being a foreign coach. Uzbekistan failed to get past the group stage at the 2026 World Cup, losing 0:5 to Portugal, 1:3 to Colombia and 1:3 to DR Congo. Cannavaro said he never understood why so much misinformation was circulating around the team. He stressed that the rules followed by his staff were European standards, not personal inventions. "The previous head coach is an excellent local specialist who achieved good results," Cannavaro said. "But that cannot be a reason for constant criticism of me. I had to set the record straight. I think there was so much false information because there was a mole inside the national team."