After learning of Pele’s passing at the age of 82, President Jair Bolsonaro proclaimed three days of national mourning. Pele’s funeral will take place on Monday at the stadium of his old team, Santos.
Pele, a three-time world champion, had recently undergone treatment for intestinal cancer. His death occurred on Thursday at the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, and condolences from all around the footballing globe have poured in.
“The body of the greatest football player of all time will be laid to rest at Estádio Urbano Caldeira, in Vila Belmiro, where he enchanted the world,” a statement from Santos read. “The body will go straight from the Albert Einstein Hospital to the Stadium at dawn on Monday (2) and the coffin will be placed in the center of the lawn. The public wake is expected to begin at 10 am.”
The club provided information on how the general public and media can pay their respects as well as details on a private funeral just for Pele’s family. The event is anticipated to go on until Wednesday morning, when a parade will pass through Santos’ neighbourhood.
“Santos FC deeply regrets the death of the best football player of all time, the man who took the name of Alvinegro Praiano to the world, our greatest idol, who immortalized the number 10 shirt and turned it into a work of art,” the club announced earlier on Thursday. “Any tribute is small compared to the greatness of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, our eternal King Pelé.”
Bolsonaro described the footballer as “a great citizen and patriot, raising the name of Brazil wherever he went,” per ESPN. His successor, meanwhile, said “few Brazilians carried the name of our country as far as he did”.
Brazil star Neymar, who drew level as the Selecao’s top scorer during the World Cup, paid his own moving tribute. “Before Pelé, 10 was just a number. I’ve read this phrase somewhere, at some point in my life. But this sentence, beautiful, is incomplete,” he wrote.
“I would say before Pelé football was just a sport. Pelé has changed it all. He turned football into art, into entertainment He gave voice to the poor, to the blacks and especially: He gave visibility to Brazil. Soccer and Brazil have raised their status thanks to the King! He’s gone but his magic remains. Pelé is FOREVER!!”
