Jorge Bergoglio, now known as Pope Francis, was a regular visitor to the San Lorenzo football team’s locker room when he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He’d often drop by to greet the players before games, a habit he’d developed as a huge fan of the team since he was a kid. His dad had played basketball for San Lorenzo, so it was only natural that Bergoglio followed in his footsteps and became a supporter.
A Knockback from Basile
Things took a turn, however, when Alfio “Coco” Basile took over as the team’s coach in 1998. Basile, a former Argentine international with a successful coaching career behind him – he’d won two Copa Américas with Argentina – wasn’t too thrilled to see a priest walking into the locker room before a game. “Who is this priest?” Basile reportedly asked Fernando Miele, the club’s president at the time. When told that Bergoglio was a regular visitor, Basile wasn’t having it. “Get him out of here,” he said. “I don’t want any priests in the locker room.”
Basile recounted this story in 2014, after Bergoglio had become Pope Francis. It seems Miele bumped into Basile at a restaurant in April 2013 and reminded him of the incident. “You kicked the Pope out of the locker room,” Miele joked. Basile was taken aback – he’d had no idea that the priest he’d thrown out was the future Pope.
Football and Faith
This wasn’t the first time Pope Francis had crossed paths with football. He’s met with various teams and players over the years, including a delegation from Celta de Vigo in July 2023. The Pope has also been known to be a fan of Diego Maradona, the legendary Argentine footballer.
