Serie A To Be Suspended?

[Zizou]

http://www.goal.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=54636&progr=0

Serie A To Be Suspended?
4/1/2005 4:21:00 PM

The critical conditions of Pope John Paul II might lead to a suspension of the Italian football league for this weekend.

The Coni is evaluating the possibility of suspending this weekend’s Serie A program due to the Pope’s very poor health state. In the afternoon, a meeting between the Coni President (Gianni Petrucci), the General Secretary of the Coni (Raffaele Pagnozzi) and the President of the FIGC (Franco Carraro) will be held to discuss this eventuality.

In the meantime nothing has been confirmed as of yet but the match Lazio-Livorno will most surely be postponed as all police force in Rome will be working full-on in the Vatican city.

[Candy-Man]

good idea imo

[mood]

Should only be for the Romans..

Football's part of life & death too.

[Zizou]

Why just for the Romans? All of Italy is Roman Catholic.

[Zeman]

I dont think stopping the football will help the pope to feel better.

[Zizou]

Definitely not but on the other hand the attention would shift away from the football and it would be a bit surreal at the stadiums.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

Religion should never interfere with football though. Religion shouldn't be a part of everyday life full stop.

[Ystoop]

I dont think stopping the football will help the pope to feel better.

Dont be a Wan:KnobKer! Its a mark of respect incase the worst should happen

[mood]

I dont think stopping the football will help the pope to feel better.

He is a Lazio fan afterall.

[Zeman]

Why to play matches on Sunday then? FIGC should put matches only during the week because Sunday is the day of Lord and we should only go to the Church prayng for asking forgiviness for our sins.

[Candy-Man]

^^^So all men have a valid excuse for not going, women on the other hand have no excuse for not going :laugh

[Interista]

All of Italy is Roman Catholic.

I should have thought of that before I opened my atheistic big mouth to my gf regarding this subject.

She thinks there should be no football this weekend. I have to agree, with the emphasize on have. :ninja

[Javier Zanetti]

Ray you have to agree because if you won't you'll have to buy some new plates ;)
With all respect to the Pope ,I don't think the matches should be postponed.

[Interista]

Ray you have to agree because if you won't you'll have to buy some new plates ;)

On the contrary. We were at her place. :devil

[giallorosso]

He is a Lazio fan afterall.

the pope was born in poland and doesn't even care about football.
even if he was laziale, god obviously isn't, as 2 scudetti in 105 years prove...

i'm with Luca and don't think it would be a good idea not to play on weekend.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

The pope used to be a goalkeeper though, so he does actually like football. I don't know the exact details, but I know some members of the Vatican actually do their own radio commentary/punditry or something like that on the football, which I found quite amusing.

I don't think his illness should interfere with the football though. Mainly because I'm a religion hating Atheist and I don't particularly care for him. Not that I want him to die, cos he's not done much wrong, I just don't think he's particularly important.

[Interista]

cos he's not done much wrong, I just don't think he's particularly important.

A lot of catholics do think he is important. Considering the Vatican is against abortion (and condoms too I believe) I think the Pope has done something very wrong. Instead of changing his ideas to the 21st century he keeps attaching himself with these old fashioned ideas.

It's perhaps very harsch to say this at the moment but it is about time the Vatican appoints a new pope who is more concerned about the needs of "his followers" than an old book full of fairytails from a different civillization full of violence.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

^^^Yeah, I agree that his ideas are outdated, I meant that he hadn't done enough wrong for me to wish death on him lol.

All religious ideas are outdated though, there wouldn't be such hostility toward gays/abortion/euthanasia etc if it wasn't for people still following the bible's teachings 2000 years after they were written.

[cro lion]

typicall atheist polarising here but must agree with Zeman stopping the football will not help the pope to feel better ...

[badass_devil666]

well he was a polish goalkeeper and im sure that if he does god forbid pass away then a national holiday will be called upon

[KD_7]

even if he was laziale, god obviously isn't, as 2 scudetti in 105 years prove...

You sure can talk, you've only got one more than us...

[badass_devil666]

i've always seen god as a neutral supporter who performs miracles on teams

[Zizou]

Then he apparently forgot to perform any miracles on Inter ;)

But seriously I think that the Pope is someone who should be respected for all that he did during his years (I don't agree with him regarding condoms, gays etc) but he's done a lot of good and helped Europe get rid of Communism. A great figure who will always be remembered in the history books no doubt about it.

[vieri_snowman]

I am deeply sadend about this situation. But I dont think it is necessary to stop playing. What if his condition drags on for another couple weeks? Can we go a month without league play? Serie A has already had a setback with the International break. Im sure there will be some sort of recognition of him before the game. Lets just hope we are kept in the position to debate about it for a little while longer. (if that isnt too selfish to ask)

[Javier Zanetti]

All Serie A matches have been postponed :(.

[Zizou]

http://www.goal.com/NewsDetail.aspx?idNews=54744&idSez=16

All Italian Weekend Matches Suspended
4/2/2005 2:24:00 PM

The decision was taken by the Coni due to Pope John Paul II’s critical health conditions.

Football has come to a stop as the whole world is following in real time the agony of the Pope. Consciousness took the upper hand as Serie A football, along with all other divisions and sports in Italy will be suspended for this weekend.

Rumours of a possible suspension were already in the air on Friday, but up till Saturday morning everything seemed to indicate that the show would go on no matter what. However the Coni decided in the early afternoon to suspend all sport activities for this weekend in respect to the dying Pope.

This Serie A round will most likely be played on the 20th of April.

[TZI]

No need to cancel the games for this IMO

[vieri_snowman]

Disappointing but this whole situation is. The right thing to do. Still the selfish side wishes football continued.

[Zeman]

I am deeply sadend about this situation. But I dont think it is necessary to stop playing. What if his condition drags on for another couple weeks? Can we go a month without league play? Serie A has already had a setback with the International break. Im sure there will be some sort of recognition of him before the game. Lets just hope we are kept in the position to debate about it for a little while longer. (if that isnt too selfish to ask)


Did you changed your mind so fast?

[Del Piero]

Well actually its a trun off if it was in a normal week i woul'v cursed those coni guys for punishing us for another week and already i missed the league for the past week but considiring we have a CL game in tuesday its ok am not mad its a good chance for our players to rest.

[Redhat]

if he hasnt died i dont see why they need to suspend the games. do the players want a time to reflect and reminisce!

[Fins Prompte]

I dont think it should have been canceled for illness. A minute of silence at the start of each game for prayer is suitable enough.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

They wouldn't cancel games for anybody else so I don't see why they should do it for a guy that has done the world more harm than good. I'm pissed off about this, I wanted to watch the Milan and Juve double-header on Eurosport :(

[Kaka#22]

the right thing IMO

[vieri_snowman]

They wouldn't cancel games for anybody else so I don't see why they should do it for a guy that has done the world more harm than good. I'm pissed off about this, I wanted to watch the Milan and Juve double-header on Eurosport :(

Keep your ignorance out of this forum.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

^^^^Its not ignorance mate, its called common sense. His views on abortion, gays, condoms, euthanasia and so on are ridiculously out-of-date and by refusing to see sense and change them he's stuck to the same tired religious ideals and actually hindered progression of reliigous opinions.

Religion in general is a bad thing for the world, so excuse me if I don't exactly hurry to pay my respects :)

[Chazzy]

^^^^Its not ignorance mate, its called common sense. His views on abortion, gays, condoms, euthanasia and so on are ridiculously out-of-date and by refusing to see sense and change them he's stuck to the same tired religious ideals and actually hindered progression of reliigous opinions.

Religion in general is a bad thing for the world, so excuse me if I don't exactly hurry to pay my respects :)
i'm not a religious guy at all and i want nothing to do with the Pope. I agree that your previous post was not at all ignorance but it was you expressing yourself to which another member saw as ignorance but to say religion is a bad thing for the world is strictly your personal opinion and such a strong opinion, an opinion said like a fact, should be kept to yourself.

[badass_devil666]

im hardly a religious person myself but its not just the pope whos views are against condoms abortions etc.... the whole of religion practically is against it but we shouldnt forget what he has done off the basis of religion, freeing eastern europe from communist rule for instance. anyways back to the title of the topic i think this is poor timing it should of been called yesturday at the latest and as the announcement was made today it really angered me due to the timing of the announcement though i still have my full respect on the decision, but im sure the pope would much rather watch his beloved lazio before his sadened departure.

[Javier Zanetti]

They wouldn't cancel games for anybody else so I don't see why they should do it for a guy that has done the world more harm than good. I'm pissed off about this, I wanted to watch the Milan and Juve double-header on Eurosport :(
BS ,even though I'm not religious I have to say the pope has done a lot of great things ,and your'e complaining not about something bad he did but about something good he didn't do.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

But to say religion is a bad thing for the world is strictly your personal opinion and such a strong opinion, an opinion said like a fact, should be kept to yourself.
That's not fair though, people are allowed to praise religion as much as they want but just cos my opinion of it is very critical I should have to keep it to myself?

I'll shut up now as I don't wanna cause an argument, but I stand by what I said :)

[vieri_snowman]

Fine stick to it and leave it. This isnt Religion24-7. One thread is irritating enough.

[badass_devil666]

r.i.p john paul II :clap

[Chazzy]

to get back to the point of the thread and indeed the whole forum itself.......


Serie A schedule updated

The Italian League have announced the updated Serie A schedule after the suspension of the weekend's fixtures.

When news of Pope John Paul II's deteriorating health was announced this week, the Italian Olympic Committee responded by announcing the cancellation of a wide range of sporting fixtures in honour of the man who served 26 years as head of the Catholic Church.

With the Pontiff passing away late on Saturday night grieving is expected to be widespread across Italy, home of the Papal residence in Vatican City.

Those fixtures scheduled for this weekend have now been rescheduled for April 9 and 10, and in order to compensate for this there will also be a full complement of midweek games on April 20.

The Coppa Italia semi-final legs have also been affected with the first legs now to be played on May 11 and 12, and the second legs completed on May 18 and 19.

[badass_devil666]

i think its disrespectful that italy is the only country posponing this weekends fixtures and other nations not even holding any kind of mark of respect.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

The British won't as we're primarily Christian, I don't know any other countries besides Italy that are primarily Roman Catholic. Are Spain and France?

[Zizou]

Bergkamp is God - All I can say is that you're a knob :rolleyes: How old are you???

[ash]

The British won't as we're primarily Christian, I don't know any other countries besides Italy that are primarily Roman Catholic. Are Spain and France?

And the difference between 'Primarily Christian' and 'Primarily Roman Catholic' is what exactly ?

[vieri_snowman]

Well some "Christians" (not all!) are being rather disrespectful to the pope. That says something about the difference.

[Zizou]

vieri_snowman - people from other religions are actually more respectful! It's incredible...this guys deserve all the respect in the world for what he's done and yet there are some "heroes" who just to look cool go against the flow.

[ash]

Vieri, I know that the Pope isn't respected by some of the more extreme Protestant groups. What I was getting at was the extreme stupidity of Bergkamp_is_God's remark about England being a 'primarily christian' country.

John Paul II was Pope for a very long time, and he was much loved and respected, so his death, naturally, merits some mark of respect.

[Zizou]

I don't know any other countries besides Italy that are primarily Roman Catholic. Are Spain and France?

Another point that proves his ignorance. Roman Catholics is the biggest religion in the world (1.1 billion people) and you say that apart from Italy there are not primarily Roman Catholic countries? Heh

[Celticrugby]

They cancelled sporting events for several big events before, and for a country that is incredibly catholic, and the event is actually taking place in it, I see no reason why not having football today would be a bad thing.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

It wasn't a stupid remark though. The Italians idolise the Pope as he is the figurehead for the Roman Catholic religion and so obviously they will be distraught over his passing, whereas there is a much lower concentration of Roman Catholics in Britain so he had nowhere near the same level of adulation over here. I don't see whay that is a stupid remark, if he was as popular over here as in Italy then we'd have cancelled the sporting events as well, the fact that it was never even considered says a lot about his status over here. As for your question, I'm 18 by the way.

And as for the comment that I am saying this to "look cool by going against the flow", thats totally untrue. Yes, the Pope did some good things in his life, the bad things far outweight the good things though.

His opinions are far too outdated, he thinks that women are inferior to men, he is devoutly against homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, contraception etc. He even fired a Cardinal for supporting AIDS sufferers using condoms. Surely nobody in their right mind would suggest that AIDS sufferers shouldn't wear condoms, that approach would mean it would kill thousands more people than it already does, but he still openly criticised it. How does that make him a great man?

I have plenty more reasons for not being a fan of him but I don't want to engage in a bitter rant about a man who has just passed away so I won't. I'll simply say that I might not have agreed with his views but I would never wish death upon him and I hope he rests in peace.

[ash]

But it was a stupidly phrased remark, and your comment about Italy being the only Primarily Catholic country was exceptionally dumb.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

Another point that proves his ignorance. Roman Catholics is the biggest religion in the world (1.1 billion people) and you say that apart from Italy there are not primarily Roman Catholic countries? Heh
No, I said that i'm not sure which other countries are primarily Roman Catholic, not that there aren't any. Italy is the obvious one, as that is pretty much the spiritual home of Catholicism, but I'm unsure about the others. I know Britian is primarily COE, and Middle Eastern/Asian countries are a mix of Islam, Hindu, Muslim etc, but I am not sure about the European nations, that is why I asked.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

But it was a stupidly phrased remark, and your comment about Italy being the only Primarily Catholic country was exceptionally dumb.
Maybe if you'd taken it in the right context instead of jumping to conclusions then it might not sound so dumb? :)

[ash]

I'm sorry, but asking what other countries are primarily Catholic is dumb in the strict sense of the word.

[Bergkamp_is_god]

Why is it? I'm British and an Atheist, two good reasons why the State religion of other European countries doesn't bother me in the slightest. i'm sure there's plenty of things that you don't know and I do, but I'm not calling you ignorant so don;t you do it to me either

And, instead of acting all morally superior, why not just answer the question?

[ash]

You haven't got to be a religious maniac to know the rough distribution of the world's religions.

Countries that are nominally largely Catholic include: Poland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Republic Of Ireland, Austria,Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico (in fact virtually every country in Central and South America)

[Shad]

the pope was born in poland and doesn't even care about football.

Well that's simply incorrect. The pope himself was a goalkeeper in his younger years. According to Jerzy Dudek, Liverpool's goalkeeper and the pope's compatriot, the pope revealed to him when they met that he was a fan of him and Liverpool FC in general. That's what he said in some interview about two years ago...

[Aequitas]

I just don't think he's particularly important.

When he visited Brasil , 3 millon people gathered in the streets to just see him.(and this is just one example)
Athetist or not you have to be really stupid to say he's not particualry important. :laugh

[vieri_snowman]

Not to mention visiting many places where Catholics are the minority. Got large numbers in all these places.

[redefining_form]

There's no chance the CL matches coming up will be postponed, I presume?

[Celticrugby]

You haven't got to be a religious maniac to know the rough distribution of the world's religions.

Countries that are nominally largely Catholic include: Poland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Hungary, Republic Of Ireland, Austria,Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Mexico (in fact virtually every country in Central and South America)
There's more than 47 million catholics in the US too.

[Interista]

Odd that everybody attacks Bergkamp is God while I was the one who started this with a critical remark. :ninja

[Celticrugby]

Odd that everybody attacks Bergkamp is God while I was the one who started this with a critical remark. :ninja
Banned. :D

[Interista]

Banned. :D

Oh I never felt better. I'm an outlaw..... :woot

[ash]

There's more than 47 million catholics in the US too.

I wasn't ignoring the US (or indeed any nation with a substantial Catholic representation) I was just listing the countries where Catholicism is (in theory) the largest denomination.

Sorry to any country I left out.

[MaidenMadness]

i was raised as a christian but i dont have much respect for it
i oppose the church's hypocracy and i simply have trouble believing some of they stuff they are preaching
but despite that i think it was a right decision to postpond this matchday
there are a lot of chatolics in serie a and they are going through tough time and its debatable how would they be focused on the match
and to comment on something
bergkamp is old:
you have a right to your point of view. however i feel a need to correct some of your claims:
1) pope didnt see women inferior to men. infact he saw women the holiest of all gods creations. he was just against woman priests cause thats a tradion in roman chatolic church. you're british and you should know better than me on how ppl care about their traditions
2) you're allowing your disagreements with some of his views block your vision from seeing facts that he did a lot for world peace, for bounding of people of different religions. he was a first pope to apologize for inquisition, for vaticans inactiveness durging ww2, to visit izrael and pray on jew's most holy places.
these all are good things yet you say he didnt earn any respect in your eyes?
3) from your point of view religion is pointless. sadly due to human's natural narrowmindedness it is a cause for most of the world problems. its not a probles of religion but its a problem of man. however religion gives a man something to hope for, to live for. and sometimes a hope is all that we have.

[Celticrugby]

I wasn't ignoring the US (or indeed any nation with a substantial Catholic representation) I was just listing the countries where Catholicism is (in theory) the largest denomination.

Sorry to any country I left out.
Yeah, I know, I was just stating another fact to back up your arguement.

[Fins Prompte]

Mexico canceled their games for today as well

[Bergkamp_is_god]

Athetist or not you have to be really stupid to say he's not particualry important.
I meant to me he's not important. I accept tht some people will be very touched by the pope's death, and I'll grudgingly respect that, I just mean to me he wasn't a great man and so although I don't wish death on him, i won't be paying tributes to him either :)


1) pope didnt see women inferior to men. infact he saw women the holiest of all gods creations. he was just against woman priests cause thats a tradion in roman chatolic church. you're british and you should know better than me on how ppl care about their traditions
2) you're allowing your disagreements with some of his views block your vision from seeing facts that he did a lot for world peace, for bounding of people of different religions. he was a first pope to apologize for inquisition, for vaticans inactiveness durging ww2, to visit izrael and pray on jew's most holy places.
these all are good things yet you say he didnt earn any respect in your eyes?
3) from your point of view religion is pointless. sadly due to human's natural narrowmindedness it is a cause for most of the world problems. its not a probles of religion but its a problem of man. however religion gives a man something to hope for, to live for. and sometimes a hope is all that we have.
1) Us British don't have many traditions now lol. The government has banned most of them in case people get hurt. The sack race, conkers and so on, all banned :(
I know he had his reasons of tradition but in all honesty, in today's society those views would be held as sexist.
2) Yeah he did do some good stuff for world politics and for people and I respect that, I just feel the fact he's openly homophobic, sacked a man for trying to stop AIDS spreading and other stuff like that overshadows the good he did.
3) Yeah I know, I admit I'm very pessamistic and if a family member is ill I'll be sad cos they're dying, whereas religious people will be optimistic and think he's going to a better place and the like. So in some ways its good, I just think it impacts too much on daily life and also causes a lot of conflicts. my girlfriend is Scottish and as you might know, lots of people have died there due to sectarian divides caused by Catholics and Protestants fighting. So its something that I feel strongly against.

Lets not let this turn into a religious debate anyway, lets just pay respects to the man, he has passed on after all :(