Italian football club ACF Fiorentina has renamed its training ground as the “Centro Sportivo Davide Astori” after former captain Davide Astori, who died on March 4.
“We’ve made this decision because that was his home. He went there every day for training and used to spend time there with his family too,” Fiorentina president Mario Cognini said in a statement on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency. “He went there every day for training and used to spend time there with his family too.”
“We believe that honouring him in this way is the right thing to do,” he added.
Players line up during a minute's silence in memory of Davide Astori
During the pre-World Cup friendly against Argentina on Friday, the Italian team wore black armbands and observed a moment of silence in Astori’s memory before kick-off. During the singing of the national anthems, each member of Italy’s squad wore the No. 13 shirt of defender Astori.
Astori, who played 289 Serie A matches over 10 seasons and won 14 caps for Italy, died of what authorities said was cardiac arrest in his hotel room ahead of a league game against Udinese. The Italy centre-back, who came through the youth system at AC Milan before spending eight years at Cagliari, had played for Fiorentina for three years.
His No. 13 jersey was retired by both Cagliari and Fiorentina.
The defender's death left Italian football in shock and thousands of fans turned out along with players and coaches at his funeral on March 8.
