Paolo Cannavaro (Italian pronunciation: [ˈpaːolo kannaˈvaːro]; born 26 June 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. After beginning his career with Napoli, he moved to Parma in 1999, where he played alongside his older brother Fabio. Paolo remained with the club for seven seasons, aside from a loan spell with Verona during the 2001–02 season, helping the club reach the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup in 2005. In 2006, he returned to Napoli, where he was eventually named the club's captain and contributed to the club's resurgence: he helped the team to earn promotion to Serie A in his first season and subsequently aided his side to qualify for the UEFA Cup in 2008, earn a spot in the Champions League in 2011 and win the Coppa Italia in 2012, the club's first title in over 20 years. After eight seasons with Napoli, he moved to Sassuolo in 2014, where he remained until his retirement in 2017. Following the conclusion of his professional football career, he joined his brother as a member of the team's coaching staff at Guangzhou Evergrande and Benevento.

Cannavaro was born in Naples on 26 June 1981.^[2] He is the younger brother of former football defender Fabio Cannavaro.^[3] His nephew and son of Fabio Cannavaro, Christian, is also a footballer, who currently plays as a midfielder for Benevento and previously played for Paolo's former club Sassuolo.^[4][5]

His son Manuel (born 2002) is a professional footballer, playing as a central midfielder for Taranto as of 2021.^[6]

As a youngster, Cannavaro played for Italy under-21 national football team on 18 occasions between 2002 and 2004, notably representing the Italy under-21 side at the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, where they reached the semi-finals. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother by earning his first and only call up for the Italian national senior team under manager Roberto Donadoni, on 13 October 2007, for a friendly match in Florence against South Africa on 17 October, although he did not make an appearance during the match.^[1][13][14]

A tall, reliable, experienced, dedicated and physically strong defender, Cannavaro was known in particular for his ability in the air.^[15][16][17] A talented defender, although tactically he was capable of playing in a four-man back-line, he was not particularly quick, therefore, due to his elegance on the ball, technique, vision, awareness and passing ability, he performed best as a ball-playing centre-back in a three-man defensive line and was known for his ability to create chances or start attacking plays from the back after winning back possession; he was also capable of playing as a right-back, although this was not his preferred position.^{[16][17][18][19][20]} His main defensive skills were his anticipation, marking ability, tackling, concentration and strong mental attributes.^[19][21][22] In spite of his reserved character, he was also known for his leadership qualities.^[18][19][23]

Following his retirement from professional football in December 2017, Paolo joined his brother, manager Fabio Cannavaro, on the technical staff at Chinese Super League club Guangzhou Evergrande.^[11][12] They stayed at Guangzhou until September 2021, when they tended their resignations.^[24]

He successively served as Fabio Cannavaro's assistant at Serie B club Benevento from September 2022 to February 2023.^[25]

In December 2012, Cannavaro was handed a six-month ban for failing to report an attempt of match fixing by then-Napoli goalkeeper Matteo Gianello.^[26] On 17 January 2013, the ban was revoked by the FIGC after appeal and Napoli's two-point deduction was reversed.^[27][28]

In February 2015, Cannavaro, his brother Fabio and his sister-in-law Daniela were respectively handed six-month, ten-month and four-month prison sentences for breaching orders and entering Fabio's residence after it had been seized by authorities in 2009, amid an investigation into fraudulent activity and tax evasion; all three have appealed and will have their sentences suspended until the final judgement has been made.^[29][30]

In November 2017, following the Italy national football team's failure to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Cannavaro drew criticism in the media over a controversial Instagram post in which he blamed Italy missing out on the upcoming tournament on the influx of non-Italian footballers in Serie A over the previous 15 years.^[31]

In July 2018, Cannavaro and former Napoli footballers Pepe Reina and Salvatore Aronica were subject to a hearing by the Italian Football Federation over links to the Esposito brothers, high-ranking members of the Camorra criminal organisation.^[32]

Napoli^[33]

• Coppa Italia: 2011–12