Cagliari-Fiorentina, the match of the thirty-third day of Serie A, will not be played at 3:00 p.m. Postponed, like the rest of the program that should have been played today, following the death of Pope Francis. With the match at the Unipol Domus, Torino-Udinese (scheduled for 12:30 p.m.), Genoa-Lazio (6:00 p.m.) and Parma-Juventus (8:45 p.m.) will also be cancelled .
Lega Serie A has announced that the postponement is to a date to be determined: a new date will be defined . Football stops as a sign of mourning for the death of the Pope, as happened in 2005 following the death of John Paul II.
With Serie A, matches of the Primavera 1 Championship, Serie B and the rest of the competitions in Italy up to the amateurs have also been postponed .
"Italian football shares with emotion the grief of hundreds of millions of people for the painful passing of His Holiness Pope Francis", the words of the president of the FIGC, Gabriele Gravina. "A great example of Christian charity and dignity in suffering, he always showed himself attentive to the world of sport and to football in particular, of which he was passionate. His human closeness, as well as spiritual, to the sick, the poor and the persecuted across the planet was his deepest testimony, a beacon that will illuminate generations to come. He will remain forever in our hearts as faithful and lovers of the game of football ".
Not only football is coming to a halt, but also sport: «The president of CONI, Giovanni Malagò, invites the National Sports Federations, the Associated Sports Disciplines and the Sports Promotion Bodies to suspend all sporting activities scheduled for today and to observe a minute of silence at the competitive events scheduled in Italy for the rest of the week , to mourn the passing of the Holy Father Francis and honour his memory».
(Unioneonline/r.sp.)