Italy Coach Gets Death Threats Over Marchisio

Italy coach Antonio Conte has received death threats from angry fans who blame his training methods for the injury which was initially believed to have ruled midfielder Claudio Marchisio out for the rest of the season.

Italy's medical staff announced that Serie A leaders Juventus's Marchisio suffered ruptured knee ligaments during the warm-up for Friday's training session ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier against Bulgaria on Saturday.

"I saw him (Conte) shaken this morning," Italian football federation (FIGC) president Carlo Tavecchio told Radio Rai on Saturday. "After yesterday's controversy, he received death threats on the internet.

"I met with Conte for a long time and he is not calm. All these things have been said on social networks and he feels vilified for something that is not his fault. The FIGC stands by him."

Conte was criticised by John Elkann, the president of the holding company which controls FIAT and Juventus, who said the Italy coach worked the players too hard during the national team's training camps.

"Perhaps he'd like to be remembered as the cherry-picker with the highest number of injuries," Elkan told Italian media.

Former Juventus coach Conte defended his methods.

"I wonder why Elkann didn't ask me that when I was at Juventus? We don't work hard, we work well," the 45-year-old told a news conference in Sofia ahead of the Euro 2016 qualifier.

Italian media reported that Conte was reconsidering his position as Italy coach after the death threats.

The Italian FA was not immediately available to comment.