Gigi Riva, 30 thousand people at the funeral in Cagliari. The archbishop: «Now run to heaven like after a goal»

The ceremony to pay homage to the legend of Italian football was held at the Basilica of Bonaria

Di Antonio Fera il 24 Gen, 2024

Gigi Riva, 30 thousand people at the funeral in Cagliari. The archbishop: «Now run to heaven like after a goal».

There were 30 thousand people who emotionally participated in his funeral Gigi Riva, the Italian football legend who passed away at the age of 79 on the evening of Monday 22 January. The religious service took place in Cagliari, in the Basilica of Bonaria.

Flags of the Four Moors at half-mast in public buildings, many shutters lowered as a sign of mourning in Cagliari and beyond. To echo them, the Italian flag is at half-mast in Zurich, in the FIFA headquarters, and in Rome, in that of the Football Federation. Applause as the coffin arrives and the city team led by the coach Claudio Ranieri.

«No one convinced my father, even yesterday he left as he wanted, he was hombre vertical until the end and even yesterday he decided what he wanted to do - said the son Nicola - Not only a father for us has passed away but a person who was like a family member to many people who loved him."

The archbishop of Cagliari: «There are many images of these days that celebrate the beauty and power of Riva, his exultation with his long arms raised to the sky. Run again and still hold your arms high in the air, run and look up, in heaven with your parents and your beloved sister".

For the Minister of Sport Abode "Shore it has deep roots in the past, in the present and which we want to project into the future. I believe that football cannot afford to abandon the spirit that Gigi Riva embodied and which I believe is appreciated by all football fans of any shirt and by all athletes".

Upon exiting the coffin, a long applause greeted the legend, to the tune of Piero Marras' song “When Gigi Riva returns”. Also holding the coffin Buffon, Cannavaro e Zola, with the entire Cagliari team behind, captained by Ranieri. The chorus rose from the crowd «Gigi, Gigi». Then the moving chorus of fans with the ultras scarf started. «One Gigi Riva, there is only one Gigi Riva» they sang before the coffin was placed on the car headed to the monumental cemetery of Good-natured for burial.