Inter vs Roma one of three Serie A fixtures moved for Pope’s funeral

Inter’s match against Roma has been postponed due to a clash with Pope Francis’ funeral which the Vatican announced will take place on Saturday, Serie A said on Tuesday.

Serie A said all three matches scheduled for Saturday would be rescheduled, with Inter’s – moved to Sunday at 15.00 – being the highest profile as they contest the league title with Napoli.

The decision comes after the Italian government announced on Tuesday five days of national mourning for Francis, the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, who died at his home in the Vatican on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke. 

He had been recovering from double pneumonia that saw him hospitalised for five weeks.

Italy’s Olympic Committee CONI, the country’s highest sporting body, “invited” all other federations to suspend any events scheduled for Saturday.

CONI also asked a minute’s silence be held at all sporting events held during the days of national mourning.

The other two matches Serie A postponed were Como v Genoa, moved to Sunday at 12l30pm, and Lazio’s home match with Parma, which will be played on Monday to stop fans from flocking to Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on the same day as the funeral.

The Olimpico is around three kilometres from Vatican City and the Prati and Della Vittoria districts which separate the two are often paralysed by a combination of fan and tourist traffic on matchdays.

The rescheduling causes the biggest problems for Inter who are bidding for the Serie A, Champions League and Italian Cup treble.

Inter are level on 71 points with Napoli, who host Torino on Sunday, at the top of Serie A and face local rivals AC Milan in the second leg of the cup semis, with Barcelona awaiting a week later.

The Italian champions have already played 50 matches this season and are set for at least another 11 between now and the end of June due to the revamped Club World Cup being played in the United States.

Four fixtures from the last matchday which had been scheduled for Monday, will now be played on Wednesday at 18.30 local time (1630 GMT), with Champions League chasers Juventus playing at Parma.