The United Rugby Championship scheduling is one of several sporting codes affected by Pope Francis’ funeral which the Vatican announced will take place on Saturday.
The 88-year-old pontiff died peacefully at the Saint Martha residence in the Vatican City on Monday and it has since been confirmed that his cause of death was a stroke, which led to heart failure.
On Tuesday, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis’s funeral will take place on Saturday, 27 April at St Peter’s Basilica in the small, independent city-state within Rome and as a result three Serie A football matches and now a URC rugby game have been postponed to either a later date or brought forward.
Italy’s Olympic Committee CONI, the country’s highest sporting body, has also invited all other federations to suspend any events scheduled for Saturday.
URC STATEMENT ON SCHEDULING CLASHES WITH POPE FRANCIS’S FUNERAL
“The Round 16 Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixture between Zebre Parma and Edinburgh Rugby will now take place on Friday, 25 April at 20:35.”
“The game was originally due to play on Saturday, 26 April, however, to show respect and avoid playing a sporting event in Italy on the day of Pope Francis’s funeral, it was decided to move the R16 clash to 24 hours earlier.
“The league expresses its condolences to all who mourn the loss of Pope Francis and thanks all stakeholders for helping to support this change of schedule in such a speedy manner.
“The game will be live on Sky Sports Italia and Premier Sports 1 in the UK, SuperSport, and URC.tv in selected territories.”
RESCHEDULED GAMES
| Sporting code | Competition | Game | Original fixture | Rescheduled fixture |
| Rugby | URC | Zebre vs Edinburgh | Saturday, 26 April | Friday, 26 April at 20:35 |
| Football | Serie A | Inter Milan vs Roma | Saturday, 26 April | Sunday, 27 April at 15:00 |
| Football | Serie A | Como v Genoa | Saturday, 26 April | Sunday, 27 April at 12:30 |
| Football | Serie A | Lazio vs Parma | Saturday, 26 April | Monday, 28 April ay 20:45 |
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Src: TheSouthAfrican.com - https://rugga.co.za/serie-a/pope-franciss-funeral-throws-sporting-calendar-into-disarray-urc-also-affected/
