Florence gathers to bid farewell to Davide Astori

The city of Florence gathered today to bid a final farewell to club captain Davide Astori who passed away tragically aged 31 last weekend in Udine.

Astori’s family was joined by members of the Italian football community representing clubs from every division in the country and national team. Between 7,000 and 8,000 Fiorentina fans filled the square outside the Basilica di Santa Croce to pay their respects to their fallen captain.

The mourners today included Francesco Totti, Javier Zanetti, Marco Van Basten and former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. The assembled fans welcomed Astori’s teammates with applause and also showed their appreciation to the Juventus squad who flew directly to Florence from London to attend following their Champions Last 16 second leg victory last night.

An initial autopsy has revealed that Astori most likely suffered bradyarrhythmia – meaning his heartbeat got slower and slower until it stopped – while he was sleeping from Saturday night into Sunday morning. His body was found just hours before Fiorentina were due to play Udinese.

His body returned to Florence yesterday where it was taken to Coverciano, the headquarters of the Italian FA, where mourners waited patiently to pay their respects to Astori and his family.

This morning his body was taken on one final journey to the Stadio Artemio Franchi where 1,500 fans waited many wearing Fiorentina jerseys.

Astori’s coffin was given a guard of honour into the Basilica by youth team players. His funeral mass was celebrated by the Archbishop of Florence Giuseppe Betori.

Astori’s coffin enters the Basilica di Santa Croce.

Teammate and club vice-captain Milan Badelj delivered a touching tribute on behalf of the squad to the congregation “Dear Davide, I speak on behalf of my team-mates and the purple family: Your name in Hebrew means ‘beloved’, and to see all those who are here today to show you affection, I believe this is really your name,” he said.

“Davide, with your eyes you can get inside people and stay there. You are not like everyone else, you are the one that even if you do not know the languages well you managed to talk to all of us, talking with the heart and keeping us united. You have the gift of the universal language of the heart.

“You encouraged the youngest and thrashed the oldest, you have the gift of the universal language of the heart, a gift of the chosen few. Your mother, your father must know that they did not make a mistake with you. If you’re like that, it’s because they transmitted it to you. You are the son and brother that everyone wants to have, you are the best teammate that a boy can dream of having when you begin this beautiful game. How can we forget your laughter, your sense of humour. You, a world-famous designer and a footballer in your free time as you loved to say. In reality, you are football, the pure kind played by children.

“Our thoughts go to your mother, father, Bruno, Marco, Francesca and Princess Vitoria. It will be the task of those around her to tell her who her father was, Davide, a man with a capital ‘M’.

“I finish with an anecdote. In the morning, when you arrived in the physiotherapy room, you were always the one to turn on the light. You are this for all of us, you are light. Thanks Davide.”

Former Fiorentina forward Gabriel Batistuta was not in attendance, but he sent a message via ANSA, the Italian news agency, expressing his shock at Astori’s death.

“I’m on the other side of the world, but I would like to be in Florence for the final farewell to Davide, together with my people,” Batistuta wrote. “When the terrible news of the death of our captain arrived, I had the same reaction you all did: I was shocked, without words. There’s never an answer to death, but this time it was crazy.

“A footballer who dies in his sleep – it’s something incredible, inexplicable and unacceptable. It’s a trauma which hits a community, in particular our world. I didn’t know Davide personally, but my Fiorentina friends had always drawn a splendid picture of him.

 

“Fiorentina were right to give the captain’s armband to Davide because first and foremost he was a real man. I always thought that the history of the Viola had just one captain, my fraternal friend Giancarlo Antognoni, but from now on, there will always be two of them.”

Public buildings in the city today display Florence’s flag at half-mast, with signs of mourning also present on public transport and official vehicles.

The Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella has also confirmed that a minute’s silence will take place across the city at 13:00 CET (Astori’s shirt number), while local schools will also take part at the same time if possible.

Nardella has also asked for local shops to lower their shutters for 10 minutes from 13:00 to 13:10 as a mark of respect.

Fiorentina and Astori’s former club Cagliari have retired the number 13 jersey in his honour.

As his coffin left the Basilica the fans couldn’t contain their emotions singing “inno della Fiorentina” that players run out to on matchday.

Astori’s body will be transferred to his birth town of San Pellegrino Terme, where he will be laid to rest on Friday.

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