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Topics: Serie A, Football, Premier League
The EFL have provided their stance ahead of Easter Monday’s fixtures after Serie A postponed all games following the death of Pope Francis.
Pope Francis died aged 88 at 05:35 am (BST) on Monday (April 21), according to a statement released by Cardinal Kevin Farrell on behalf of the Vatican.
"This morning at 07:35 local time, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father," read the statement.
"He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage and universal love, especially in favour of the poorest and most marginalised.
"With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God."
Soon after, Serie A confirmed that all four of Monday’s scheduled fixtures - Torino vs Udinese, Cagliari vs Fiorentina, Genoa vs Lazio and Parma vs Juventus - had been postponed and are to be rearranged for a later date.
Tributes from clubs such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, Juventus and AS Roma flooded in with a minute silence held ahead of Real’s training session at their Valdebedas training centre on Monday as the club released a statement, which read: “Real Madrid would like to express its condolences to the entire Catholic community on the loss of a historic and universal figure.
"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..."
Ahead of tonight's match between Tottenham Hotspur and Nottingham Forest, the Premier League issued the following statement when contacted by SPORTbible about whether a tribute was planned:
"We are not planning anything centrally, but the clubs can of course decide if they want to do any tributes.”
Meanwhile, when contacted by SPORTbible, the EFL provided the same stance as the Premier League and confirmed that any potential tributes will be left up to the club in the same way.