Italy national team head coach Luciano Spalletti has reiterated that he has not imposed a ban on PlayStation games at the team’s EURO 2024 camp, rather that he has advised his players against staying up until the early hours of the morning while they are away for the tournament.
Both Spalletti and Donnarumma were asked about the rumoured PlayStation ban during their pre-match press conferences on Friday, but both insisted that there has been no impact on the squad.
In fact, Spalletti clarified that Italy have a full games room with several games consoles at their base in Germany, and the coach has had a few games himself.
And while downtime is important during a month-long tournament, Spalletti has encouraged his players to get as much rest as possible in between matches and training sessions.
“Sometimes I regret having to come here to comment on things that I haven’t said. What interests me is that we all sleep at night, I don’t allow the team to stay awake at night and then come down for training unrested. That’s all,” the CT said, reported via TMW.
“We have created a games room where there are two beautiful PlayStations, and I have played them too. But do it at the right times. Do you think it’s right to play until three or four in the morning? Or do you sleep better at night without it? There are psychologists and doctors who say the same.
“We have to conduct ourselves correctly, that is all. I didn’t say that they can’t play Playstation, but only that they can’t stay up until three or four in the morning.”
Donnarumma also backed his coach up, insisting that there has been “absolutely no impact.”
He continued: “The important thing is to have the right balance. When you’re in your room, you can play games, but it’s important not to be up late at night.
“After dinner, we’re all together in the games room, we spend some time having fun there. We’ve created a really good group, the coach has given us some guidance, some advice, but no serious rules.”
