The Vatican City Championship ( it, Campionato della Città del Vaticano) is the top men's
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
league of Vatican City. Founded in 1972 as the Coppa Amicizia, teams are composed of workers representing various state departments.
Teams are permitted to field an outside player from Italian amateur teams to play as
goalkeeper
In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...
.
The league's best players are combined to form the
Vatican City national team for rare friendly matches.
The Vatican football association, Federazione Vaticanese Giuoco Calcio, is not a member of
FIFA and is overseen by its president Domenico Ruggerio as of May 2014.
All matches are played at the Associazione Sportivo La Salle complex in Western
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, although the larger
Campo Cardinale Francis Joseph Spellman served as home until recently.
The league has amateur status with matches and training taking place outside of work hours. Matches take place on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Equipment and uniforms are occasionally donated by organizations and benefactors
with deficits being covered by the Vatican government.
The league takes place between October and May each year with a two-month break in December and January.
History
The first organized football took place in the Vatican in 1947 when a four-team league was staged. The final that year was contested between Pontifical Villas and Fabbrica di San Pietro.
The league was suspended shortly after creation because of fierce competitiveness. Only friendly matches were allowed for the next two decades until another league was reformed in 1966. Seven teams competed during the first season with employees of
L’Osservatore Romano
''L'Osservatore Romano'' (, 'The Roman Observer') is the daily newspaper of Vatican City State which reports on the activities of the Holy See and events taking place in the Catholic Church and the world. It is owned by the Holy See but is not a ...
, the Vatican newspaper, claiming the first championship.
The current league was founded as the Coppa Amicizia, later renamed the Campionato della Citta Vaticano, by Sergio Valci who was former president of the FA and a Vatican healthcare employee until his death in 2012.
A secondary cup known as the Coppa ACDV was created in 1985. It was renamed the
Coppa Sergio Valci in 1994. The Vatican
Supercoppa began in 2005 and sees the winner of the Campionato della Citta Vaticano face the Coppa ACDV winners.
Teams in the 2019–20 season
*
Source
Sport in Vaticano
/small>
Champions
*Source:
Top scorers
Notable former players and coaches
*
Gabriele Giordano Caccia -
Apostolic Nuncio
An apostolic nuncio ( la, nuntius apostolicus; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international ...
to Lebanon
*/
Dino da Costa-former Italian international
*Source(s):
See also
*
Sport in Vatican City
*
Index of Vatican City–related articles
This is an index of Vatican City–related topics.
0-9
* 00120 (Vatican postcode)
A
*''Acta Apostolicae Sedis''
*''Angels Unawares''
* Anima Mundi museum
*Annates
*Anthem
* Apostolic Nunciature
*Apostolic Palace
*Architecture of Vatican City
* ...
References
Footnotes
External links
Official Vatican Sports
See also
*
Vatican City national football team
The Vatican City national football team ( it, Selezione di calcio della Città del Vaticano) is the association football, football team that represents Vatican City under the control of the Vatican Amateur Sports Association, headquartered in th ...
*
Coppa Sergio Valci
*
Clericus Cup
The Clericus Cup is an annual association football tournament contested by teams from the Roman Colleges, which are seminaries of the Catholic Church located in Rome. During the fourth season (2010), the tournament involved sixteen schools an ...
{{NFB Leagues
Vatican City
Vatican City (), officially the Vatican City State ( it, Stato della Città del Vaticano; la, Status Civitatis Vaticanae),—'
* german: Vatikanstadt, cf. '—' (in Austria: ')
* pl, Miasto Watykańskie, cf. '—'
* pt, Cidade do Vati ...
Sport in Vatican City
1973 establishments in Europe
Sports leagues established in 1973
Football in the Vatican City