Tottenham cancel Conte press conference after Gian Piero Ventrone dies

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Tottenham have cancelled Antonio Conte’s pre-match press conference ahead of the match against Brighton following the tragic news of Gian Piero Ventrone’s death. Conte was scheduled to talk with the media today at around 2pm to preview this weekend’s match against Brighton.

But the press conference has now been scrapped following Ventrone’s passing, who died after a short battle with leukaemia. Conte had known Ventrone for decades having worked as a player under him during his time at Juventus.

Reports in Italy stated Ventrone was put in intensive care on Wednesday and was placed in a coma. He then tragically passed away in the early hours of Thursday morning at the age of 61.

Tottenham released a statement following the fitness coach’s death, which read: “We are devastated to announce that fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone has passed away. The 61-year-old joined the Club in November, 2021, as part of Antonio Conte’s backroom staff, having previously held roles at Juventus, Catania, JS Suning, GZ Evergrande and AC Ajaccio.

“As loveable off the pitch as he was demanding on it, Gian Piero quickly became a hugely popular figure with players and staff. He will be greatly missed by everyone at the Club and our thoughts are with his family and friends at this impossibly sad time.”

The popular Italian coach, nicknamed ‘The Marine, made his mark on the squad this summer with his gruelling training sessions in Seoul. But despite the rigourous pre-season tour, Ventrone was clearly well liked by Tottenham players.

Matt Doherty had nothing but kind words to say about the fitness guru during pre-season in South Korea.

He said: “It’s all love for Gian Piero, actually. Normally when you have a fitness coach like that who is running you ragged you start to not like him but that’s not the case. We all absolutely love him. We’ve got so much respect for him that we do whatever he tells us to.”

Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg echoed Doherty’s sentiment, adding: “We love him. He’s a great guy with great experience. They put us through some great work and we know we will improve and it’s fantastic. It’s nice to work hard.”

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