Serie A Matches Delayed Due To Pope Francis’ Funeral

By: Gyang Dakwo

Italy’s top football league, Serie A, has postponed all games that were set for Saturday out of respect for Pope Francis’ funeral, which will take place in Rome that day. The league made the announcement on Tuesday.

There had been reports that Inter Milan’s game against AS Roma might be allowed to go ahead as planned to give Inter more time to rest before their Champions League semi-final against Barcelona next week. However, the league confirmed that this match will now be played on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. local time (1:00 p.m. GMT) at the San Siro stadium.

Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, died on Monday at the age of 88. His funeral will be held in St Peter’s Square, in front of the famous St Peter’s Basilica. After the ceremony, he will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

Two other Serie A games have also been rescheduled. Lazio’s match against Parma, which was supposed to take place in Rome on Saturday, will now be played on Monday at 8:45 p.m. (6:45 p.m. GMT). Como’s home game against Genoa has been moved to Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. GMT).

Serie A had already postponed matches on Monday following the Pope’s death. Those games will now be played on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Italy’s National Olympic Committee (CONI) called for the suspension of all sports events scheduled for Saturday.

The decision reflects the country’s deep respect for Pope Francis and the significance of his passing for many Italians and Catholics around the world.