Rome, Italy, Nov 16, 2007 / 09:41 am
The president of the Italian Soccer League, Antonio Matarrese, announced the creation of an ethics committee for soccer and said Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone to be a member.
“We will entrust soccer to the Church,” Matarrese told the website Petrus, adding that “after the tragic events of last Sunday (which left one person dead after fans rioted at a soccer game) we are preparing to establish a consultative body on soccer made up of leaders, journalists and security officials, and an invitation to join has been extended to Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.”
“There was a sincere rapport with Cardinal Bertone, and so I consider it opportune to receive his wise counsels in order to come out of this critical phase through which Italian soccer is passing,” he said.