All football matches cancelled in Italy as Pope Francis passes

Italy has canceled all football matches of the domestic championship due to the passing of Pope Francis. This was announced on the official website of the tournament.

The following matches scheduled for April 21 have thus been canceled:

• Torino vs. Udinese,
• Cagliari vs. Fiorentina,
• Genoa vs. Lazio,
• and Parma vs. Juventus.
• On April 21, Pope Francis passed away at the age of 89 at his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican. His death was officially confirmed by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.

Francis was elected pope in 2013 following the resignation of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who stepped down due to health issues. Francis became the first Latin American in history to lead the Roman Catholic Church. He was a longtime supporter of the Argentine football club San Lorenzo.

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Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until his death in 2025. He was the first pope from the Society of Jesus (the Jesuit Order), the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III. Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from severe illness. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969; from 1973 to 1979, he was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II. He led the Argentine Church during the December 2001 riots in Argentina.