Owner of SSC Napoli football club, Aurelio De Laurentiis (L) speaks to Pope Francis (R) as co-Director of the NGO Scholas Occurentes Jose Maria del Corral (C) looks on, after De Laurentiis presented the Pope with a jersey of SSC Napoli flocked with his name, during the “Eco-Educational Cities” conference organised by Scholas Ocurrentes and aimed at promoting education and sustainability on May 25, 2023 at the Augustinian Patristic Pontifical Institute in Rome. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

The four Serie A football matches scheduled to take place on Monday have been postponed to a later date following the death of Pope Francis, the Italian top flight said in a statement.

Udinese’s game at Torino, Fiorentina’s visit to Cagliari, Genoa’s match against Lazio and Juventus’ trip to Parma will be rescheduled to an unspecified date.

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The games will have to fit into a congested finish to the season, potentially clashing with the Champions League semifinals.

Serie A also postponed matches in its youth league.

The Italian football federation (FIGC) announced that all games across professional and amateur football on Monday would be rescheduled to a later date.

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The FIGC hailed the Pope as “an example of Christian charity and dignity in suffering, always close to the world of football”.

The Vatican said Pope Francis, a keen football fan, died aged 88 on Monday.