On the eve of the first match of the European Football Championship, which will take place in Rome, the president of UEFA, Aleksander Čeferin, gave the Pope a replica of the trophy.
“Thank you for inviting us, thank you for loving football. And thank you for doing what you are doing. We respect you very much, all of us, all of the organization.”
“This is for you.... So we can count on a special blessing.”
The president of the Italian Football Federation, Gabriele Gravina, jumped at the opportunity to start the competition with an advantage: a papal blessing. His team is inaugurating the Euro Cup with a match against Turkey at Rome's Olympic Stadium.
Among those present were former athletes like Luis Figo from Portugal.
The Pope gave them a book titled “Sports, according to Pope Francis.”
The Euro Cup was postponed because of the pandemic. Now, with this visit, its organizers are hoping to rely on privileged papal intervention to avoid any other setbacks.
Javier Romero
TR: CT
VM
