FILE - Pope Francis twirls a soccer ball he was presented by a member of the Circus of Cuba, during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)FILE - Argentine soccer legend Diego Armando Maradona, left, greets Pope Francis in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)FILE - Pope Francis holds a San Lorenzo's jersey, the Buenos Aires soccer team, handed to him by a faithful at the end of the Easter mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)The late Pope Francis is depicted on a mural alongside soccer player Lionel Messi at the Carlos Mugica neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Rodrigo Abd)A rosary, messages, and emblems of the San Lorenzo soccer club, of which the late Pope Francis was a fan, are attached to a column of the Cathedral in Buenos Aires, Argentina, following his passing on Monday, April 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)Pope Francis and Scholas Occurrentes' President Jose Maria Del Corral, left, look at Newell's Old Boys captain, Argentine midfielder Maxi Rodriguez juggling a soccer ball at the launch of the 'Scholas Occurrentes' (Latin for, schools of meeting) international educational movement at the pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome, Thursday, May 19, 2022. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)FILE - Diego Armando Maradona presents Pope Francis with an Argentine national soccer team jersey bearing the name Francisco on it, in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Monday, Sept. 1, 2014 ahead of an interreligious match for peace. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)
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FILE - Pope Francis twirls a soccer ball he was presented by a member of the Circus of Cuba, during his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, file)
