Cagliari to set to name stadium after late great Gigi Riva

Serie A side Cagliari are set to name their stadium after late great Gigi Riva, who passed away recently.

Former Italy star Riva passed away on Monday. Since Saturday night he had been hospitalized after suffering an acute coronary crisis while he was at his home. The doctors explained that Riva had been offered angioplasty surgery and that he had refused, asking for time to think about it. A few hours later a new heart attack proved fatal.

One of the greatest names in Italian sport, Riva is currently the highest scorer for the national team and was nicknamed “Rombo di Tuono” (Rumble of Thunder), having won the European championships with the side and he was also a Runner up for the Ballon D’or in 1969. He spent almost his entire career at Cagliari, rejecting offers from bigger clubs despite his club struggling.

With Sardinia in mourining, Cagliari president Tommaso Giulini has confirmed that the club’s stadium will be now named after Riva.

He told Sky Italia: “The man goes but the legend is born. Gigi Riva is Cagliari , and forever will be, from today more than ever. It seemed impossible that there left a discreet but reassuring presence, monument and symbol, around the city as if at the side of each of us in advising us and asking us about news of his beloved Cagliari. We owe you a lot, Gigi, and we will have to respect you in your memory , in your example , and forgive us if we are not up to you. We will dedicate the stadium to Gigi but above all the constant effort of each of us to make the Cagliari shirt even more glorious, as he did as a player, as a manager, as a flag that will never be lowered . Fly in the sky. Gigi and with your star guide us, always”

Kaustubh Pandey | GIFN