By ANDREW DAMPF, AP Sports activities Author
ROME (AP) — High-flight soccer matches in Italy and Argentina have been postponed after the demise of Pope Francis on Monday.
The Buenos Aires membership that the Argentine pontiff supported all through his life was additionally mourning its most well-known fan.
The broader soccer and sports activities world paid homage after Francis died at 88.
All sports activities occasions scheduled for Easter Monday in Italy have been postponed, together with 4 Serie A video games: Torino vs. Udinese, Cagliari vs. Fiorentina, Genoa vs. Lazio and Parma vs. Juventus. The video games will now be performed on Wednesday.
Likewise, three top-flight video games in Argentina have been postponed from Monday to Tuesday: Tigre vs. Belgrano, Argentinos Juniors vs. Barracas Central and Independiente Rivadavia vs. Aldosivi. The video games might be preceded by a minute of silence to mourn Francis, who was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires earlier than being elected pope.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino mentioned he was “deeply saddened” over the pope’s demise.
“I was privileged enough to spend some time with him on a couple of occasions, and he always shared his enthusiasm for football and stressed the important role our sport plays in society,” Infantino mentioned on Instagram. “All the prayers of the whole football world are with him.”
Worldwide Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach mentioned “we are losing a great friend and supporter of the Olympic movement.” Bach added that Francis’ “support for the peace and solidarity mission of the Olympic Games and the many refugee initiatives of the IOC has been unwavering.”
Pope and San Lorenzo
Francis’ ardour for soccer grew to become identified nearly instantly after he was elected as the primary pope from Latin America in 2013 when the Argentine membership San Lorenzo tweeted a photograph of him holding up the crew’s crest. He was even a card-carrying member of the membership, with San Lorenzo ID No. 88,235.
San Lorenzo is nicknamed “the Saints.”
“He was always one of us,” San Lorenzo mentioned in tribute on Instagram, remembering how Francis watched its 1946 championship crew as a boy.
San Lorenzo carried out nicely after Francis was elected because the 266th pope in March 2013. The crew gained a nationwide title in 2013 and claimed the Copa Libertadores for the primary time a 12 months later. Membership officers traveled twice to the Vatican carrying trophies to thank Francis for his assist.
A deliberate new San Lorenzo stadium is to be named for Francis.
In Italy, there have been additionally ideas that Francis supported Juventus since his household got here from the Piedmont area the place the Turin membership relies. Francis’ father, Mario Bergoglio, was a basketball participant.
FILE – Diego Armando Maradona presents Pope Francis with an Argentine nationwide soccer crew jersey bearing the title Francisco on it, within the Paul VI corridor on the Vatican, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014 forward of an interreligious match for peace. (AP Picture/Gregorio Borgia, File)
Pope and Maradona
Francis met countryman Diego Maradona twice as pope. There was a particular viewers in reference to a charity soccer match in 2014 when Maradona offered the pontiff with a soccer jersey, emblazoned with the title “Francisco” — Spanish for Francis — and Maradona’s No. 10.
“We all now realize he’s a (star),” Maradona mentioned after one other assembly in 2015. “I’m Francis’ top fan.”
When Maradona died in 2020, Francis remembered the soccer nice in his prayers.
“A different, approachable, Argentine pope,” Lionel Messi, one other Argentina soccer nice, mentioned on Instagram. “Thank you for making the world a better place. We will miss you.”
Report 15-time European soccer champion Actual Madrid additionally mourned Francis in a message on Instagram.
Throughout a gathering with the Argentina and Italy nationwide groups shortly after he was elected, Francis famous the affect of athletes, particularly on youth, and instructed the gamers to keep in mind that, “for better or worse” they have been function fashions. “Dear players, you are very popular. People follow you, and not just on the field but also off it,” he mentioned. “That’s a social responsibility.”
Francis usually hailed sports activities as a technique to promote solidarity and inclusion, particularly for younger folks.
At a worldwide convention on religion and sport in 2016, Francis implored leaders to do a greater job of protecting corruption off the taking part in area and mentioned sports activities should be shielded from manipulations and industrial abuse.
“Francis was a special pope, able to illuminate in his time like only the greatest can,” Gianluigi Buffon, the previous Italy captain who met the pope many instances, mentioned on Instagram. “He showed us the way with great courage and moved our souls. I will carry his example forever in my heart.”
AP Sports activities Author Mauricio Savarese in Sao Paulo contributed.
Initially Revealed: April 21, 2025 at 2:16 PM EDT
