SPORT Sport +

Frankie Dettori and Stradivarius win Gold Cup at Royal Ascot International Edition + 

Vatican cancels football match with Vienna over anti-abortion protests

By Livia Borghese and Matthew Robinson, CNN
 Updated 1515 GMT (2315 HKT) June 23, 2019

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.
 Sport + International Edition +

The Vatican's newly formed women's football team canceled a match against an Austrian side following a protest over the Church's stance on abortion.

Rome (CNN) — The Vatican canceled a friendly football match between its new women's team and a club in Vienna, after a number of Austrian players protested
against the Catholic Church's stance on abortion.
By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.
The match, which was scheduled to take place Saturday at the Mariahilf football club in the Austrian capital, was called o after several Austrians lifted up their
+
Sportpro-choice
shirts to reveal messages painted on their stomachs and backs while the countries' anthems were playing before kick-o . International Edition +

One player wrote the slogan "my body my rules" on her back, according to images circulating on social media.

Michael Bonvalot
@MichaelBonvalot

"Der Vatikan vertritt Werte, die gegen unsere Selbstbestimmung

gehen. Das wollen wir nicht unkommentiert unterstützen.“
Fußballerinnen des FC Wien-Mariahilf zeigen vor dem Spiel gegen
den FC Vatikan Symbole für das Abtreibungsrecht und
Regenbogen.wien.orf.at/stories/300150…
42 1:16 PM - Jun 22, 2019

16 people are talking about this

Vatican News, the o cial news agency of the Vatican City, said that the match turned into a "protest against the Church." The tie was intended to celebrate the
20th anniversary of the club's founding.

"During the Vatican's anthem, some Austrian women raised their shirts, displaying writing on their stomachs and backs in favor of abortion, then sending pro-LGBT
messages in opposition to the church's stance," the agency said. It added that politically charged banners were displayed in the stands.
By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.
The news agency described the team's welcome as "truly unexpected," and noted that they decided to abandon the game "with great sadness."
"The protest caught the Vatican players by surprise, who were expecting a simple sporting event, and together with their manager, took the di cult decision not to
take part Sport +
in the match so as not to further the exploitation of the event," the agency said. International Edition +

Pope Francis has said that sport can "foster a culture of dialogue and respectful encounters."
By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.
FC Mariahilf said Sunday that it was still preparing an o cial statement on the incident.
Sport + International Edition +
"We are still working on an o cial statement regarding the cancellation of yesterday's match, and will try to answer any unanswered questions following the release
of the statement. Thank you for your understanding," the team said on its o cial Facebook page.

Ernst Lackner, chairman of FC Mariahilf, said o cials had not been aware of the protest plans and added that the incident would be reviewed. He noted, however,
that freedom of expression "should be respected."

"They [the Vatican team] didn't come out to play... it's really regrettable the game was called o ," he told Agence France-Presse.

A player from the Austrian team said that the Vatican "represents values that go against our self-determination," according to the public broadcaster ORF.

The individual admitted, however, that they did not expect that the protest would lead to the match being canceled.

Vatican News reported that the team played their first match in May against a club from Rome and lost 10-0.
The match in Vienna was scheduled to be their first international tie.

The Pope commented on the benefits of sport in May while marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of the
Italian Sports Center, an association which promotes grassroots sporting initiatives and groups across Italy.

"When you face a competition, you learn that rules are essential to live together; that happiness is not found in
unruliness, but in pursuing your goals faithfully," he said according to Vatican News.

He added that sport can help "achieve a profound transformation of our society" and "foster a culture of
dialogue and respectful encounters."

Livia Borghese reported from Rome and Matthew Robinson wrote in London.
Related Article: Vatican calls non-binary
gender 'fictitious' in report tackling
'education crisis' over sexuality

By using this site, you agree to our updated Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.