Vatican City has national teams that compete inathletics,cricket,cycling,football,padel, andtaekwondo. Outside of competitive play, sport has been stated as a way ofinterfaith dialogue,promoting peace with other nations, diplomacy, andfraternity.
A race track was built in the 1st century where Vatican City is now located. In the 16th century, a game ofcalcio fiorentino was held in theCortile del Belvedere. The 20th and 21st centuries saw the expansion of sporting activities in Vatican City, with it being encouragedafter World War II byPope Pius XII. It also saw the establishment ofVatican Athletics, the first official sporting organization of Vatican City. Vatican Athletics also handlesVatican Cycling,Vatican Taekwondo, and Vatican Padel, which are members of their sports' respective international federations.
The first athlete to officially represent Vatican City in international competition wasRien Schuurhuis, who competed in the2022 and2023 UCI Road World Championships. Inmulti-sport events, Vatican City has not competed in theOlympic Games as it does not have aNational Olympic Committee. Although, Vatican City has supplied delegations for other multi-sport events, such as theMediterranean Games and theGames of the Small States of Europe.
A sporting facility built in what is now Vatican City was the first-centurychariot-racing track of theCircus of Nero. Also known as the Circus of Caligula, the track was built in what was thenancient Rome. The circus itself was constructed onVatican hill, one of theseven hills of Rome, and was completed in the reign of EmperorCaligula.[1][‡ 1] The circus lasted until between 318 and 322 when EmperorConstantine I ordered construction on the site to be replaced with theOld St. Peter's Basilica.[2]
A game ofcalcio fiorentino was held in the 16th century within Vatican City. A predecessor to association football andrugby, the game was organized by thePapal States and was held on 7 January 1521, in theCortile del Belvedere, located in theApostolic Palace. The first match itself was notably attended and organized byPope Leo X.[3]
In theaftermath of World War II,Pope Pius XII encouraged sporting activities within Vatican City. Sporting activities were organized and executed by theCatholic Church, through Catholic youth and sports associations.[4]
Pope John Paul II made multiple speeches and messages that relate to sport[5] and helped with multiple advancements to the spread of sport within Vatican City, such as the establishment of the Church and Sport section in thePontifical Council for the Laity during his rule.[6] Being known as the "athlete Pope", he also established Office of Church and Sport for the promotion of sport within Vatican City and the Church's connection with sport.[7]
On multiple occasions,Pope Francis, stated that sport could be used as a way of advocatingpeace across nations,fraternity,[8] and diplomacy.[9] He praised theNorth Korean andSouth Korean teams at the2018 Winter Olympics inPyeongchang, South Korea, for their joint supply of aunified Korean team at the Games, stating that the Vatican would back uppeace initiatives between the two nations.[10] Francis also stated toVatican Athletics that sport "reminds us that, despite our differences, we are all members of the same human family", stating that sport could promote peaceful relationships with other nations during the lead-up to the2024 Summer Olympics and2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris.[11]
Pope Leo XIV is a lifelong fan ofAmerican sports, especiallyMajor League Baseball. He supports multiple sport teams associated with his hometown ofChicago such as theChicago White Sox[12] and theChicago Bears.[13]
As of July 2024[update], Vatican City is not a member of theInternational Olympic Committee and is therefore not able to send a team to theOlympic Games,[14] though it had made bids to compete at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France.[15] To form aNational Olympic Committee, national sport federations must conduct sporting activities within its borders and internationally. It also must be affiliated with at least five international federations that govern sports included in theprogramme of the Games.[16] As of May 2024,[update] two of its national sport federations have been affiliated with governing bodies of sports, namelyVatican Cycling with theUnion Cycliste Internationale[17] andVatican Taekwondo withWorld Taekwondo.[18]
"With five or six of these sporting realities, we could form a National Olympic Committee. And be able to parade, one day, at the Olympic Games. We don’t want to fight for medals. Our Olympic Committee would be above all symbolic."
Prior to the designation of Paris as the host of the 2024 Summer Olympics, the city ofRome expressed itsintent to host the Games in 2014.[19] Due to the Vatican's location within the city, Francis sent support for the events ofarchery andfootball to be held within its boundaries, specifically at theGardens of Vatican City and thePalace of Castel Gandolfo.[20] In September 2016, the city withdrew its bid as the host of the Games, leaving it to the city of Paris.[21]
As part of planning to join the Olympic Games, delegations from Vatican City lead by the head of the sports department in the culture ministry,Melchor Sánchez de Toca Alameda [es], were present at the2016 Summer Olympics inRio de Janeiro, Brazil, and 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea as observers.[15][22] Francis also met with IOC PresidentThomas Bach multiple times for talks to let Vatican City take part in theOlympic Games opening ceremonies.[15]
The Vatican supplied two athletes to compete symbolicallyfor Vatican City at the2022 Mediterranean Games, held inOran, Algeria, in a "non-scoring" manner. The decision was approved by the local organizers of the Games andDavide Tizzano, the president of theInternational Committee of Mediterranean Games. RunnersSara Carnicelli and Simone Adamoli were part of the delegation to be the first ever participants from Vatican City to compete in amulti-sport event.[23] Eventually, Carnicelli competed in thewomen's half marathon, unofficially placing ninth with a time of 1:17:21,[24] and became the first ever athlete for Vatican City to compete in a multi-sport event following Adamoli's withdrawal from his event.[23]
A delegation from Vatican City was present at the2019 edition of theGames of the Small States of Europe inBudva, Montenegro, but was only allowed to observe[25] as they were barred from competing due to the absence of aNational Olympic Committee alongside theFaroe Islands.[26] They were then set to compete at the2021 Games of the Small States of Europe held inAndorra la Vella, Andorra, through a partnership with theItalian Olympic Committee signed in 2018,[27] but the event was cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic and to avoid scheduling conflicts with the2020 Summer Olympics, which were rescheduled to be held in 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.[28]
Vatican City is not a member of theInternational Cricket Council;[29] however, a representative nationalmen's cricket team was formed in 2013. The St Peter's Cricket Club, also known as the Vatican Cricket team and Vatican XI, was initially the idea of then-Australian ambassador to the Holy See,John McCarthy.[30] The club was tasked with recruiting players from among seminarians and priests atCatholic colleges andseminaries in Rome. For its home matches, the team plays at the Roma Capannelle Cricket Ground.[31] The team's initial squad in 2014 was composed of players from India, Pakistan, Australia, England, Bangladesh, and New Zealand.[32]
The first ever match for the team was against theRoma Capannelle Cricket Club, where the former lost.[33] The team also tours in various locations such as Portugal in 2017,[34] England in 2018,[35] and another tour in England in 2024.[36] For the 2018 tour, the team then played against a team made up ofAnglican priests and seminarians of theChurch of England, with the main objective ofsports diplomacy andinterfaith dialogue to improve both relations between the twoChristian denominations.[37]
Vatican City is not a member ofFIFA;[38] however, representativemen's andwomen's national football teams exist and play friendly matches and in unofficial tournaments.[39] All of the Vatican's football activities are held atCampo Pio XI, a football stadium in Rome.[40] The men's team first unofficial match was against Austrian journalists in 1985 which ended in a score of 3–0 in favor of the former,[41] while the first official match was againstSan Marino, which ended in a draw.[1] The women's team first match was againstAS Roma's youth team, losing to a score of 0–10.[42] The women's team also stirred controversy after one of their matches was abandoned inSimmering, Vienna, on 22 June 2019 as part of the club's twentieth anniversary, after opposing players from FC Mariahilf and bystanders protested about theCatholic Church's stance on abortion andhomosexuality during the playing ofVatican City's national anthem.[43]
AfterWorld War II, association football was introduced to the country and the sport's first tournament in the country was held in 1947. The first football club in the country was formed in the mid-1960s by employees of theVatican Museums,[44] and a local football league, theVatican City Championship, was founded in 1972 and is made up of teams representing employees of the different administrative departments in the Vatican.[45] The league went through many name changes, first being called the Coppa Vaticano at its inception, then being renamed the Coppa Amiciza in 1947, and the Campionato della Citta Vaticano in 1981,[46] by Sergio Valci who was the former president of the Health Insurance Fund (Fondo Assistenza Sanitaria; FAS) and a Vatican healthcare employee until his death in 2012.[45]
Other tournaments include the secondary cupCoppa Sergio Valci,[47] which was first named the Coppa ACDV in 1985 then renamed in 1994,[46] and theVatican Suppercoppa, which started in 2005 and sees the winner of the Vatican City Championship face the Coppa Sergio Valci winners.[47]
InAmerican football,Pope Leo XIV is a fan of theNational Football League'sChicago Bears, and was gifted a custom Chicago Bears jersey by United States vice presidentJD Vance following his inauguration as Pope.[13]
Pope Leo XIV is a lifelong fan of theChicago White Sox ofMajor League Baseball,[12][48][49] and was in attendance at US Cellular Field (now known asRate Field) for Game 1 of the2005 World Series.[50][51][52] Chicago White Sox catching coachDrew Butera has said that the team is investigating the possibility of outreach into Vatican City, andJonathan Cannon suggested the possibility of playing a game in Rome.[53]
In October 2025, Catholicos-PatriarchAwa III, also from Chicago, jokingly gifted Leo XIV aChicago Cubs jersey in reference to theCubs–White Sox rivalry.[54]
Pope John Paul II andPope Francis were both honorary members of theHarlem Globetrotters basketball team.[55][56][57][58]Pope Leo XIV has shown support forVillanova University athletics, especially theVillanova Wildcats men's basketball team.[59] In 2025, Italian street artistTVBoy created a mural in Rome depicting Leo XIV wearing aChicago Bulls jersey.[49][60]
Vatican City and the Italian Olympic Committee had an agreement to set up an official athletics team with the intention of making the country to be able to compete in international sporting tournaments such as theSummer Olympics.[61] The official athletics team,Vatican Athletics, was established on 10 January 2019, with initial accredited members that includedSwiss Guards, nuns, priests, museum workers, and maintenance workers, as well as two migrant Muslim Africans as honorary members.[62] Vatican Athletics is Vatican City's first official sporting association.[63] Although not affiliated withWorld Athletics,[64] the organization is affiliated with theItalian Athletics Federation and is the first sports team to have legal status in the country.[61] Four days after the organization was established, the team earned its first podium finish on 14 January 2019, with Don Vincenzo Puccio, aSicilian priest who won a silver at the Maratona di Messina, a marathon inMessina, in a time of 2:31:53.[65]
The national team has also competed at international tournaments such as theMediterranean Games and theChampionships of the Small States of Europe. RunnerSara Carnicelli competed at both of these, becoming the first athlete from theVatican City to participate in amulti-sport event at the2022 Mediterranean Games.[23] She also became the first official international medalist from the country when she won a bronze medal at the2022 Championships of the Small States of Europe inMarsa, Malta. However, because of an agreement withEuropean Athletics and theAthletic Association of Small States of Europe, she had to give the bronze medal to Roberta Schembri of Malta, who finished in fourth place; she was then awarded an honorary medal.[66] The nation competed at the following edition of the championships, which were held inGibraltar on 22 June 2024,[67] where hurdler Giuseppe Zaparatta won a bronze medal when he placed third in the men's110 metres hurdles.[68]
Prior to becoming a member of theUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI), Vatican City was used as a venue for the1974 Giro d'Italia, where it was used as a starting point for the course. The riders paid homage toPope Paul VI before starting the race; eventually,Eddy Merckx of Belgium won the race.[69] In 2025, the Giro came to Vatican City again, riding through the Vatican Gardens in the neutralized part of stage 21 and the peloton stood still for a moment for a speech byPope Leo XIV.[70]
Vatican Cycling[a] became a member of the UCI in September 2021, becoming the firstnational governing body of Vatican City to be recognized by aworld governing body.[73] The first two cycling activities Vatican Cycling organized upon becoming a member of the UCI were dedicated topara-cyclistAlex Zanardi, who's considered to be one of "Italy's greatest athletes".[17] The following year, Dutch cyclistRien Schuurhuis became the first athlete to represent Vatican City as a regular scoring competitor after competing in themen's road race at the2022 UCI Road World Championships inWollongong, Australia,[74] although he did not finish the race;Remco Evenepoel of Belgium won the race.[75] Schuurhuis also competed for the nation in thesame event at the2023 edition acrossScotland and ending inGlasgow,[76] and also did not finish the race;Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands won the race.[77] Despite being born in the Netherlands, Schuurhuis was eligible to represent Vatican City due to his marriage withChiara Porro, theAmbassador of Australia to the Holy See.[74]
Vatican Padel[a] was established on 8 November 2018[71] and became a member of theInternational Padel Federation in 2022, becoming the third national governing body of Vatican City to be recognized by a world governing body.[78] Prior to the national team's debut, the national governing body organized inclusive padel matches on 5 April 2022, for families with children who haveautism andDown syndrome. The following day, Argentinian padel playerFernando Belasteguín [es], who ranked number one in the world for 16 consecutive years, visited the nation for theInternational Day of Sport for Development and Peace.[79]
The national team made their debut in April 2024, with threefriendly matches against the San Marino national team in the Villa Pamphili Padel Club in Rome. The national team lost to San Marino 3–0. This match served as a precursor before their debut at the qualifiers for the 2024 European Padel Championships inCagliari, Italy, and the 2024 Small States of Europe Padel Championships in Luxembourg.[80][81]
Vatican City andWorld Taekwondo holds a close relationship with each other.[73] The World Taekwondo Demonstration Team first visited the nation in 2016,[82] and has made a subsequent visit withNorth Korean taekwondo practitioners in 2018 for a "demonstration for peace".[83] In 2017,Pope Francis was granted an honoraryblack belt by the federation.[84]
Prior to becoming a member, the nation held courses for the sport for students at the Saint Pius X Institute under a partnership with theItalian Taekwondo Federation. Then,Vatican Taekwondo[a] officially became a member of World Taekwondo on 23 November 2021,[18] becoming the second national governing body of the nation to be recognized by a world governing body, after Vatican Cycling.[73] Vatican Taekwondo has no registered athletes or officials on World Taekwondo's website as of June 2024[update].[85]
While living in Rome in 2005, he managed to make it to Game 1 of the World Series in Chicago. He was even spotted in the stands during the national television broadcast.
In the text, these references are preceded by a double dagger (‡):
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