Thousands attended Pele’s wake in Brazil

Thousands of people gathered yesterday, Monday, at the Santos Club stadium to bid farewell to former Brazilian soccer star Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pelé, who died at 82 last Thursday, a victim of colon cancer.

The wake, held at the Urbano Caldira stadium in the Vila Belmiro neighborhood of the Brazilian city of Santos, was attended by the president of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Gianni Infantino, and the head of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), Alejandro Domínguez.

In talking with Pelé’s relatives, Infantino announced that he would propose to the national federations of all countries to name a stadium after the three-time World Cup winner in 1958, 1962, and 1970 with the Brazilian national team.

“We will ask all federations worldwide to name a stadium after Pelé. I think young people, future generations, have to know and remember who Pelé was and the joy he gave to the world,” Infantino said.

The wake, which will end tomorrow, Tuesday, began at 10:00 local time with thousands of people waiting for more than three hours, with lines at least two kilometers long.

Pele will be buried in a private cemetery in Santos, a coastal city located 60 kilometers from Sao Paulo, where he is the greatest idol of the homonymous club with which he won two Libertadores and two Intercontinental Cups.

“One of the main things Pelé leaves us is his legacy as a soccer player who surpassed the sport. He is Brazil’s and the world’s,” said supporter Rodrigo Monteiro, a 29-year-old shopkeeper, who was wearing a T-shirt with the phrase “Pelé Eterno”.

Brazil’s federal government intends to name the port of Santos, the largest in Brazil and Latin America, after Pelé, the governor of the state of Sao Paulo (southeast), Tarcísio de Freitas, confirmed to the press upon arriving at the wake.