Sport in Vatican City

Pope Francis spinning a basketball on a pencil
Pope Francis spinning a basketball on a pencil during a sports showcase in the Vatican

Sport in Vatican City plays an important role in the culture of the nation. The Vatican's attitude toward sport has been positive; outside of competitive play, it is stated to be a way of spirituality, interfaith dialogue, promoting peace with other nations, diplomacy, and fraternity. With this, the nation has teams that compete in athletics, cricket, cycling, football, padel, and taekwondo.

Historically, sport within the nation has existed since the 1st century, when a race track was built in ancient Rome, which is now present-day Vatican City. A few centuries later, venues across the nation were used for local sporting events, which have been attended and played by multiple popes. The 20th and 21st centuries saw the expansion of sporting activities of the nation; with more sports organizations, teams, and activities, being established by the nation to widen its presence in sport.

The first competitor to compete for the nation officially in international competition was Rien Schuurhuis, who competed in the 2022 UCI Road World Championships. In multi-sport events, the nation has not competed in the Olympic Games as it does not have a National Olympic Committee, with Vatican Athletics serving as its unofficial one. Though the nation has supplied delegations for other multi-sport events, such as the Mediterranean Games and the Games of the Small States of Europe.

History

A drawing of a horse racing track
Drawing of the Circus of Nero (Pietro Santi Bartoli, 1699)
A drawing of a courtyard with structures on the right and back
Drawing of the Cortile del Belvedere (Giovanni Antonio Dosio, 1558–1561)

Vatican sporting history initially began in the 1st century when a chariot racing track was built in the Circus of Nero, also known as the Circus of Caligula, in what was then ancient Rome.[1] The circus itself was constructed on Vatican hill, one of the seven hills of Rome, was completed in the reign of Emperor Caligula.[2] The circus lasted until between 318 and 322 when Emperor Constantine I ordered construction on the site to be replaced with the Old St. Peter's Basilica.[3]

The very first game of calcio fiorentino was held in the 16 century within the nation. A predecessor to association football and rugby, the game was organized by the Papal States and was held on 7 January 1521, in the Cortile del Belvedere, located in the Apostolic Palace. The first match itself was notably attended and organized by Pope Leo X,[4] other matches were attended and played by popes Leo XI, Clement VII and Urban VIII.[5]

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In the aftermath of World War II, Pope Pius XII encouraged sporting activities within the nation. Sporting activities were organized and executed by the Catholic Church, through Catholic youth and sports associations.[6]

Attitude towards sport

During the interwar period of the 20th century, sport and physical education became increasingly popular in Europe, with the creation of new gymnasiums, stadiums, and sports parks becoming prevalent.[7] The Vatican's attitude towards sport at this time was affected by political and cultural developments within the bordering nation of the Kingdom of Italy when it was governed by the National Fascist Party. The Vatican held positive opinions towards sports as a way of expressing Catholic spirituality and principles. The nation also held seemingly negative opinions towards the advancement of sport involving women, especially women's gymnastics.[8] Although not prohibiting the sport, the nation stated: "athletic activities by women surely had their hygienic function, but harmful excesses needed to be curbed".[6]

On multiple occasions, the current sovereign of the nation as of June 2024, Pope Francis, has stated that sport could be used as a way of advocating peace across nations, fraternity,[9] and diplomacy.[10] He praised the North Korean and South Korean teams at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, for their joint supply of a unified Korean team at the Games, stating that the Vatican would back up peace initiatives between the two nations.[11] The Pope has also stated to Vatican Athletics that sport "reminds us that we are all members of the same human family", stating that sport could promote peaceful relationships with other nations during the lead-up to the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.[12]

Multi-sport events

Olympic Games

As of June 2024, the Vatican City is not a member of the International Olympic Committee and is therefore not able to send a team to the Olympic Games,[13] though it has made bids to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[14] To form a National Olympic Committee, the nation's sport federations must conduct sporting activities within the nation and internationally. It also must be affiliated with at least five international federations that govern sports included in the programme of the Games.[15] As of May 2024, two of the nation's sport federations have been affiliated with governing bodies of sports, namely Vatican Cycling with the Union Cycliste Internationale[16] and Vatican Taekwondo with World Taekwondo.[17] The unofficial National Olympic Committee of the state is Vatican Athletics as it houses majority of the nation's sport organizations.[18]

"With five or six of these sporting realities, we could form a National Olympic Committee. And be able to parade, one day, at the Olympic Games. We don’t want to fight for medals. Our Olympic Committee would be above all symbolic.

Melchor Sánchez de Toca Alameda, Vatican plans to form National Olympic Committee and march at Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony[14]

Prior to the designation of Paris as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the city of Rome expressed its intent to host the Games in 2014.[19] Due to the Vatican's location within the city, Pope Francis sent support for the events of archery and football to be held in the nation, specifically at the Gardens of Vatican City and the Palace of Castel Gandolfo.[20] In September 2016, the city withdrew its bid as the host of the Games, leaving it to the city of Paris.[21]

As part of planning to join the Olympic Games, delegations from the nation headed by the head of the nation's sports department in the culture ministry, Melchor Sánchez de Toca Alameda [es], were present at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea as observers.[14][22] Pope Francis has also met with IOC President Thomas Bach multiple times for talks to let the nation take part in the Olympic Games opening ceremonies.[14]

A map of Europe with Andorra, Cyprus, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, and San Marino highlighted. Faroe Islands and Vatican City are highlighted in green and blue
Vatican City highlighted in blue alongside members of the Games of the Small States of Europe, with the Faroe Islands highlighted in green as a prospective member

Mediterranean Games

The Vatican supplied two athletes to symbolically compete for the nation at the 2022 Mediterranean Games, held in Oran, Algeria, in a "non-scoring" manner. The decision was approved by the local organizers of the Games and Davide Tizzano, the president of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games. Runners Sara Carnicelli and Simone Adamoli were part of the delegation to be the first ever participants from Vatican City to compete in a multi-sport event.[23] Eventually, Carnicelli competed in the women's half marathon, unofficially placing ninth with a time of 1:17:21,[24] and became the first ever athlete for the nation to compete in a multi-sport event following Adamoli's withdrawal from his event.[23]

Games of the Small States of Europe

A delegation from Vatican City was present at the 2019 edition of the Games of the Small States of Europe in Budva, Montenegro, but was only allowed to observe[25] as they were barred from competing due to the absence of a National Olympic Committee alongside the Faroe Islands.[26] They were then set to compete at the 2021 Games of the Small States of Europe held in Andorra la Vella, Andorra, through a partnership with the Italian Olympic Committee signed in 2018,[27] but the event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to avoid scheduling conflicts with the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were rescheduled to be held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.[28]

Team sports

Football

Prince Albert II of Monaco shaking hands with football players
Albert II, Prince of Monaco greeting the men's football team in June 2013

The Vatican City is not a member of FIFA;[29] however, representative men's and women's national football teams exist and play friendly matches and in unofficial tournaments.[30] All of the Vatican's football activities are held at Campo Pio XI.[31]

The men's team first unofficial match was against Austrian journalists in 1985 which ended in a score of 3–0 in favor of the former,[32] while the first official match was against San Marino, which ended in a draw.[33] While the women's team first match was against AS Roma, losing to a score of 0–10. The women's team also stirred controversy after one of their matches were abandoned in Simmering, Vienna, on 22 June 2019 as part of the club's twentieth anniversary, after opposing players from FC Mariahilf and bystanders protested about the Catholic Church's stance on abortion and homosexuality during the playing of Vatican City's national anthem.[34]

A local football league, the Vatican City Championship, was founded in 1972 and is made up of teams representing employees of the different administrative departments in the Vatican.[35] The league went through many name changes first being called the Coppa Vaticano at its inception, then being renamed the Coppa Amiciza in 1947, and the Campionato della Citta Vaticano in 1981,[36] by Sergio Valci who was the former president of the Health Insurance Fund (Fondo Assistenza Sanitaria; FAS) and a Vatican healthcare employee until his death in 2012.[35]

Other tournaments held in the nation include the secondary cup Coppa Sergio Valci,[37] which was first named the Coppa ACDV in 1985 then renamed in 1994,[36] and the Vatican Suppercoppa, which started in 2005 and sees the winner of the Vatican City Championship face the Coppa Sergio Valci winners.[37]

Cricket

The Vatican City is not a member of the International Cricket Council;[38] however, a representative national men's cricket team was formed in 2013. The St Peter's Cricket Club, also known as the Vatican Cricket team and Vatican XI, was initially the idea of then-Australian ambassador to the nation, John McCarthy.[39] The club was tasked with recruiting players from among seminarians and priests at Catholic colleges and seminaries in Rome. For its home matches, the team plays at the Roma Capannelle Cricket Ground.[40] The team's initial squad in 2014 was composed of players from India, Pakistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, and New Zealand.[41]

The first ever match for the team was against the Roma Capannelle Cricket Club, where the former lost.[42] The team also tours in various locations such as Portugal in 2017,[43] England in 2018,[44] and another tour in England in 2024.[45] For the 2018 tour, the nation then played against a team made up of Anglican priests and seminarians of the Church of England, with the main objective of sports diplomacy and interfaith dialogue to improve both relations between the two Christian denominations.[46]

Individual sports

Athletics

The nation and the Italian Olympic Committee had an agreement to set up an official athletics team with the intention of making Vatican City able to compete in international sporting tournaments such as the Summer Olympics.[47] The official athletics team, Vatican Athletics, was established on 10 January 2019, with initial accredited members that included Swiss Guards, nuns, priests, museum workers, and maintenance workers, as well as two migrant Muslim Africans as honorary members.[48] Although not affiliated with World Athletics,[15] the organization is affiliated with the Italian Athletics Federation and is the first sports team to have legal status in the nation.[47] Four days after the organization was established, the team earned its first podium finish on 14 January 2019, with Don Vincenzo Puccio, a Sicilian priest who won a silver at the Maratona di Messina, a marathon in Messina, in a time of 2:31:53.[49]

The national team has also competed at international tournaments such as the Mediterranean Games and the Championships of the Small States of Europe. Runner Sara Carnicelli competed at both of these, becoming the first athlete from the nation to participate in a multi-sport event at the 2022 Mediterranean Games.[23] She also became the first official international medalist from the nation when she won a bronze medal at the 2022 Championships of the Small States of Europe in Marsa, Malta. However, because of an agreement with European Athletics and the Athletic Association of Small States of Europe, she had to give the bronze medal to Roberta Schembri of Malta, who finished in fourth place; she was then awarded an honorary medal.[50] In the following edition of the championships, held in Gibraltar on 22 June 2024,[51] hurdler Giuseppe Zaparatta won another bronze medal for the nation when he placed third in the men's 110 metres hurdles.[52]

Cycling

Prior to becoming a member of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the nation was used as a venue for the 1974 Giro d'Italia, where the nation was used as a starting point for the course. The riders paid homage to Pope Paul VI before starting the race; eventually, Eddy Merckx of Belgium won the race.[53]

Vatican Cycling[a] became a member of the UCI in September 2021, becoming the first national governing body of the nation to be recognized by a world governing body.[57] The first two cycling activities Vatican Cycling organized upon becoming a member of the UCI were dedicated to para-cyclist Alex Zanardi, who's considered to be one of "Italy's greatest athletes".[16] The following year, Dutch cyclist Rien Schuurhuis became the first athlete to represent Vatican City as a regular scoring competitor after competing in the men's road race at the 2022 UCI Road World Championships in Wollongong, Australia,[58] although he did not finish the race; Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won the race.[59] Schuurhuis also competed for the nation in the same event at the 2023 edition across Scotland and ending in Glasgow,[60] and also did not finish the race; Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands won the race.[61] Despite being born in the Netherlands, Schuurhuis was eligible to represent Vatican City due to his marriage with Chiara Porro, the Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See.[58]

Padel

Vatican Padel[a] was established on 8 November 2018[55] and became a member of the International Padel Federation in 2022, becoming the third national governing body of the nation to be recognized by a world governing body.[62] Prior to the national team's debut, the national governing body organized inclusive padel matches on 5 April 2022, for families with children who have autism and Down syndrome. The following day, Argentinian padel player Fernando Belasteguín [es], who ranked number one in the world for 16 consecutive years, visited the nation for the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.[63]

The national team made their debut in April 2024, with three friendly matches against the San Marino national team in the Villa Pamphili Padel Club in Rome. The national team lost to San Marino 3–0. This match served as a precursor before their debut at the qualifiers for the 2024 European Padel Championships in Cagliari, Italy, and the 2024 Small States of Europe Padel Championships in Luxembourg.[64][65]

Taekwondo

A group of taekwondo athletes, suited men, and Pope Francis on some stairs
Pope Francis and president of World Taekwondo Choue Chung-won, among others, with the World Taekwondo Demonstration Team

Vatican City and World Taekwondo holds a close relationship with each other.[56] The World Taekwondo Demonstration Team first visited the nation in 2016,[66] and has made a subsequent visit with North Korean taekwondo practitioners in 2018 for a "demonstration for peace".[67] The president of World Taekwondo, Choue Chung-won, gifted Pope Francis an honorary 10th dan black belt in 2017.[68]

Prior to becoming a member, the nation held courses for the sport for students at the Saint Pius X Institute under a partnership with the Italian Taekwondo Federation. Then, Vatican Taekwondo[a] officially became a member of World Taekwondo on 23 November 2021,[17] becoming the second national governing body of the nation to be recognized by a world governing body, after Vatican Cycling.[57] The nation has at least seven athletes who compete in the sport.[56] Although the nation has no registered athletes or officials on World Taekwondo's website as of June 2024.[69]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Vatican Cycling, Vatican Padel, and Vatican Taekwondo are part of Vatican Athletics.[54][55][56]

References

Citations

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