Four top-flight soccer matches in Italy were postponed after the death of Pope Francis on Monday and the Buenos Aires club that the Argentine pontiff supported throughout his life mourned its most famous fan.

The wider soccer and sports world also paid homage after Francis passed away at 88.

All sports events scheduled for Easter Monday in Italy were postponed, including including four Serie A games: Torino-Udinese; Cagliari-Fiorentina; Genoa-Lazio; and Parma-Juventus. The four games will now be played on Wednesday, the Italian league announced.

A minute of silence will be observed before all sports events later in the week, the Italian Olympic Committee added.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he was “deeply saddened” over the pope’s death.

“I was privileged enough to spend some time with him on a couple of occasions, and he always shared his enthusiasm for football and stressed the important role our sport plays in society,” Infantino said on Instagram. “All the prayers of the whole football world are with him.”

Tennis great Rafael Nadal expressed his “sincere condolences” for Francis in a post on X in Spanish.

Francis’ passion for soccer became known almost immediately after he was elected pope in 2013 when the Argentine club San Lorenzo tweeted a photo of him holding up the team’s crest. He was even a card-carrying member of the club, with San Lorenzo ID No. 88,235.

San Lorenzo is nicknamed “the Saints.”

“He was always one of us,” San Lorenzo said in an Instagram tribute, remembering how Francis watched its 1946 championship team as a young boy.

San Lorenzo performed well after Francis was elected as the 266th pope in March 2013. The team won a national title in 2013 and then claimed the South American Copa Libertadores for the first time a year later. Club officials traveled twice to the Vatican carrying trophies to thank Francis for his support.

A planned new San Lorenzo stadium is to be named for Francis.

In Italy, there were also suggestions that Francis supported Juventus since his family came from the Piedmont region where the Turin club is based. Francis’ father, Mario Bergoglio, was a basketball player.

Francis met his fellow Argentine Diego Maradona twice as pope. There was a special audience in connection with a charity soccer match in 2014 when Maradona presented the pontiff with a soccer jersey, emblazoned with the name “Francisco” — Spanish for Francis — and Maradona’s No. 10.

“I think we all now realize he’s a (star),” Maradona said after another meeting in 2015. “I’m Francis’ top fan.”

When Maradona died in 2020, Francis remembered the soccer great in his prayers.

Record 15-time European soccer champion Real Madrid also mourned Francis in a message on Instagram:

“Real Madrid would like to express its condolences to the entire Catholic community on the loss of a historic and universal figure,” Real Madrid said in a statement. “During his pontificate, characterised by the scale of his immense legacy, Pope Francis has represented an enormous spirit of solidarity and support for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people.”

During a meeting with the Argentina and Italy national teams shortly after he was elected, Francis noted the influence of athletes, especially on youth, and told the players to remember that, “for better or worse” they are role models. “Dear players, you are very popular. People follow you, and not just on the field but also off it,” he said. “That’s a social responsibility.”

Francis often hailed sports as a way to promote solidarity and inclusion, especially for young people.

During a global conference on faith and sport in 2016, Francis implored leaders to do a better job of keeping corruption off the playing field and said sports must be protected from manipulations and commercial abuse.

“Francis was a special pope, able to illuminate in his time like only the greatest can,” Gianluigi Buffon, the former captain of Italy’s national soccer team who met the pope on multiple occasions, said on Instagram. “He showed us the way with great courage and moved our souls. I will carry his example forever in my heart.”

AP

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Not surprisingly, Rafael Nadal couldn’t take a step around the grounds of the Davis Cup Final 8 in recent days without hearing requests for a handshake or a selfie. And that was just from the other professional tennis players, to speak nothing of the fans.

The significance of Nadal’s retirement is lost on no one inside or outside the sport he is walking away from at age 38 after a litany of injuries, and for all of the well-documented success he enjoyed, his greatest legacy might be the way he inspired other players. The 22-time Grand Slam champion and all-time great of the game lost the last match of his career as Spain was eliminated by the Netherlands in the quarterfinals as Tuesday turned to Wednesday.

The last man to face — and beat — Nadal, 80th-ranked Botic van de Zandschulp, who is 29, spoke after his 6-4, 6-4 victory about idolizing the Spaniard. Many current players grew up watching Nadal, admiring him for his skill — from the big, topspin left-handed forehands to the pinpoint volleys and everything in between — and his relentless nature, his commitment to seeking improvement and, maybe most of all, his off-court humility.

He set an example for others, from contemporaries Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic or Serena Williams, to members of the following generations, including heir apparent Carlos Alcaraz.

“I was a big Rafa fan. Used to wear all his kits, his shoes, everything. A lot of neon colors,” said Ben Shelton, a 22-year-old member of the U.S. team that faces Australia on Thursday, when the other quarterfinal is defending champion Italy and No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner against Argentina. “And being a lefty, he’s a guy that I have always kind of watched and tried to learn things from. One of those perfect examples of how to do things on and off the court, how to handle the press, how to win with class, how to lose with class.”

That sentiment was echoed by player after player, many of whom were thrilled to be on-site for his farewell.

“For him to have this as his finishing point, it’s an honor for the event,” said Yannick Hanfmann, part of the German squad that defeated Canada 2-0 on Wednesday and will meet the Netherlands in the semifinals on Friday. “He’s present everywhere. In the training area, when he’s walking around, you see the people looking and trying to get some pictures, here and there. He’s got this aura that already was big, but now that this is the end, it’s maybe more important.”

Hanfmann and others were struck by Nadal’s dedication to chasing every shot down. By a refusal to accept defeat, no matter the deficit. By his longevity and consistency — nearly 18 full years in a row ranked in the top 10; 10 consecutive years with at least one major title — and his dizzying peaks, including the 14 French Open championships that earned him the “King of Clay” nickname.

His unfailing politeness, seen in such gestures as when he would say goodbye to every volunteer on his way out of a tournament or, just this Monday, when he arrived at Spain’s team news conference and made a beeline for the stenographer to shake the hand of the person who would be typing up the transcript of the Q-and-A session for reporters.

“The titles, the numbers, are there, so people probably know that, but the way I would like to be remembered is as a good person from a small village in Mallorca,” Nadal said during a tear-filled post-match ceremony at the sold-out Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena, where thousands serenaded him with a chorus of “Raaaa-faaa! Raaaa-faaa!”

“Just a kid that followed their dreams,” he said, “ (and) worked as hard as possible.”

No opponent, or any observer for that matter, could ever question his effort, even as injury after injury made things tougher, especially over the past two seasons.

No one ever doubted his drive to get better.

“I really will miss watching him on court,” said Iga Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion and long an unabashed fan of Nadal’s. “Honestly, he was the only player I watched, so I don’t know if I’m going to watch tennis at all now. He’s a huge inspiration.”

That last word, or a variation of it, was used over and over again as tributes to Nadal were offered.

So were “intensity” and “passion,” “grit” and “role model.”

“For me,” said Alcaraz, a 21-year-old Spaniard with four major trophies, “it’s difficult to accept that Rafael Nadal is going to retire, honestly.”

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Rafael Nadal felt a hand on his left shoulder as he walked out of a conference room at a resort on Spain’s southern coast Monday following his first question-and-answer session with reporters since announcing this week’s Davis Cup Final 8 will be his last event before retirement.

Nadal turned to see Carlos Alcaraz, his Spanish teammate and heir apparent, who wanted to whisper something. Nadal, 38, and Alcaraz, 21, might share a court one last time on Tuesday, when Spain is scheduled to face the Netherlands on Tuesday in the quarterfinals on an indoor hard court at the Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena in Malaga.

Then again, maybe they won’t both play Tuesday: Neither Nadal nor Spain’s captain, David Ferrer, would say Monday whether the 22-time Grand Slam champion will participate. What is clear is that Nadal’s career soon will be over.

What will he miss the most?

“I mean, probably the feeling of competition, (to) go on court and see the fans out there, the atmosphere when you play big matches,” Nadal said. “And at the end of the day, (it) is about the adrenaline that you feel before, at the end, and during the match.”

The Spain-Netherlands winner will play in the semifinals on Friday against Canada or Germany. The championship will be decided on Sunday.

“I’m not here to retire. I’m here to help the team win. It’s my last week in a team competition, and the most important thing is to help the team. The emotions will come later,” said Nadal, wearing the squad’s red polo shirt with a tiny red-and-yellow Spanish flag on the left sleeve.

“I’m enjoying the week. I’m not putting too much attention to the retirement,” Nadal said. “It will be a big change in my life after this week.”

Nadal said it doesn’t “make sense to keep going, knowing that I don’t have the real chance to be competitive the way that I like to be competitive, because my body” won’t allow it.

At the team news conference held at a hotel in Fuengirola, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) south of the competition venue, Nadal was asked how he has been feeling in practice in recent days and whether he is ready to play.

“That’s a question for the captain,” Nadal responded, drawing a laugh from Ferrer, sitting to the star player’s left.

Ferrer’s answer?

“I don’t know yet,” he said.

Perhaps this will factor in: Nadal is 29-1 in his Davis Cup singles career, a .967 winning percentage that is the highest for anyone who has played more than 15 matches. Way back in 2004, Nadal lost his Davis Cup debut to the Czech Republic’s Jiri Novak — and he’s won all 29 matches in a row since.

There will be two matches in singles and one in doubles in each matchup. Nadal could appear just in singles, just in doubles — perhaps alongside Alcaraz, his partner at the Paris Olympics — in both, or not at all.

“Maybe we can be a part of that story of his finish here,” Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann said, looking ahead to a possible semifinal. “It would be nice to get a chance to play against him one more time.”

Ferrer’s lineup doesn’t need to be submitted until 4 p.m. local time (1500 GMT), an hour before play begins. The reason the 9,200-capacity arena is sold out for Tuesday: It could be the last chance to see Nadal play a match that matters.

“His last moments on court probably are going to be super special. Not (just) for me, but for everyone,” Alcaraz said. “It’s going to be an emotional day.”

Nadal has been dealing with a series of injuries the past two seasons and has been limited to only 23 official singles matches in that span, including a 12-7 record this year.

“OK, I can hold for one more year. But why? To say goodbye in every single tournament? I don’t have that ego to need that,” Nadal said, adding that he has “been thinking for a long time” about retiring.

He hasn’t played a real match since the Paris Games in early August, when he lost in the second round of singles to Novak Djokovic and in the quarterfinals of doubles.

“I’ve tried to prepare as hard as possible for the last month and a half. I’m trying to give my best for this event,” Nadal said. “When you don’t compete so often, it’s difficult to maintain the level consistently. But the improvement is there every day. I believe that.”

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Rafael Nadal is retiring from professional tennis at age 38, he announced in a video message Thursday, after winning 22 Grand Slam titles — 14 at the French Open — during an unprecedented era he shared with rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal has competed infrequently the past two seasons because of injuries and said next month’s Davis Cup finals will mark his farewell to the sport. He had hip surgery in 2023 and entered just two of the past eight major tournaments.

“The reality is that it has been some difficult years, these last two, especially. I don’t think I have been able to play without limitations,” Nadal said. “It is obviously a difficult decision, one that has taken me some time to make. But in this life, everything has a beginning and an end.”

Nadal’s unrelenting, physical style of play — every point pursued as though it were his last, sprinting and sliding into place for that high-bouncing bullwhip of a lefty forehand — made him one of the greats of the game and the unquestioned King of Clay, the slow, red surface on which he dominated.

His record 14 French Open championships are more than anyone, man or woman, won at any one of the sport’s four major tournaments, a dominance celebrated by a statue of Nadal that stands near the main entrance to the grounds of Roland Garros and in the shadow of its main stadium, Court Philippe Chatrier.

In a result that symbolized where things stood for his body, and career, he exited in the French Open’s first round this year, a straight-set loss to eventual runner-up Alexander Zverev.

Nadal returned to that site in southwest Paris for the Summer Olympics, where he lost to old rival Djokovic in the second round of singles and reached the quarterfinals of men’s doubles with Carlos Alcaraz. Nadal hasn’t played since. His goodbye will also come while representing Spain, at Malaga in the Davis Cup.

“Your legacy won’t be matched,” Alcaraz, who is widely seen as Nadal’s heir in Spanish tennis, said Thursday. “I have enjoyed you and I will miss you very much when you retire after the Davis Cup.”

Soccer greats Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappé were among stars from the sports world also paying tribute to Nadal.

In addition to his French Open triumphs, Nadal won four trophies at the U.S. Open and two apiece at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, giving him a career Grand Slam.

“I think it is the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined,” Nadal said.

His last pair of major titles arrived in 2022, at Melbourne in January and at Paris in June, pushing him ahead of Federer, who held the men’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles when he announced his retirement at age 41. Federer bid adieu in late 2022 by teaming with Nadal in a doubles match at the Laver Cup.

Both have since been surpassed by Djokovic, 37, who is up to 24 majors.

So much of Nadal’s success was seen, fairly or not, through the prism of his encounters with Federer and Djokovic. The tennis world, and plenty outside of it, were consumed with the debate over which was most deserving of the “GOAT” — “Greatest Of All-Time” — moniker. The world, tennis or otherwise, was fascinated by their matchups, their differing styles and personalities.

Who among those who witnessed it could possibly forget Nadal vs. Federer in the 2008 Wimbledon final? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2022 French Open quarterfinals? Or Nadal vs. Djokovic in the 2012 Australian Open final? And so on.

Nadal played Djokovic 60 times, a record for two men in the Open era; Djokovic leads 31-29 overall, while Nadal leads 5-4 in Slam finals. Nadal met Federer 40 times; Nadal leads 24-16 overall, including 6-3 in Slam finals.

“Thank you for the unforgettable memories and all your incredible achievements in the game we love,” Federer told Nadal via social media.

It’s certainly apt that Nadal’s last major title came at the French Open (beating Djokovic along the way) two years ago, and while getting painkilling injections for chronic pain in his left foot. He repeatedly dealt with, and frequently overcame, various injury issues over the years, and his 2023 and 2024 seasons were both limited because of hip and abdominal muscle problems.

Nadal hurt his hip flexor during a second-round loss at the Australian Open in January 2023, and wound up missing the rest of the year; there was an operation for that in June.

After briefly making a comeback this January during a tuneup event for the Australian Open, he had to pull out of the year’s first major with a torn hip muscle, then was sidelined again until a return on his beloved clay at the Barcelona Open in April.

Dating to late in 2022, when he was beaten in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows by Frances Tiafoe, Nadal is just 14-14, including 12-7 this year.

But his overall resume is unimpeachable: a total of 209 weeks at No. 1 in the ATP rankings and nearly 18 years’ worth of consecutive weeks in the Top 10; 92 singles titles; 1,080-227 win-loss record; just shy of $135 million in prize money.

“Really, everything I have experienced has been a dream come true,” Nadal said. “I leave with the absolute peace of mind of having given my best, of having made an effort in every way.”

AP

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