CA San Lorenzo wants to honor the late Pope Francis and name its future stadium after him. The pope himself was a big fan of the Argentine first division club.
CA San Lorenzo will name its new stadium after the late Pope Francis, who was an avowed fan of the Buenos Aires club. Club president Marcelo Moretti confirmed this on Tuesday in the Spanish sports newspaper Marca, explaining that he had obtained the pontiff’s consent last year.
“During this visit, I brought him many gifts from the club,” Moretti said in his public letter in the sports newspaper. ‘We asked him for permission to name the new stadium (…) after Pope Francis. He agreed and was visibly moved,’ said the president of San Lorenzo.
The new stadium, which will replace the current Estadio Pedro Bidegain, will have a capacity of 55,000 spectators and construction is scheduled to begin this year.
Signed jersey for the inauguration
During his visit to the Vatican, according to Moretti, the pope also signed a jersey for the club, which will now be “preserved and hung up at the stadium’s inauguration.” Born in Argentina, Francis is considered a big soccer fan and was a supporter of the club, especially during his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires.
Shortly after taking office in 2013, El Ciclon celebrated its greatest successes. In addition to winning the Argentine championship in the same year, it won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in 2014 after matches against Club Nacional Asuncion (1-0, 1-1). In addition to renaming the new stadium, there will also be an improvised altar on the club grounds starting Wednesday, and the pope will be honored with a special jersey at the next league game on Saturday (2 p.m.) against Rosario Central.
