Pele, the Football king is no more as we all know and now laid to rest at the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica. However, the name Pele will always remain in the hearts of everyone, especially sports lovers. Adding more to it, in honour of the great footballer, FIFA wants a football stadium in every country named after this Brazilian legend.
“We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele,” FIFA President Gianni Infantino said while attending the funeral of the great legend in Brazil.
FIFA AND PELE
On his plans to honour Pele, he said that he hoped this would ensure that “children know Pele’s importance”.
Paying tributes to the legend, Infantino said, “for everyone who loves the beautiful game, this is the day we never wanted to come.”The day we lost Pele, “he said.
Noting that Pele had a magnetic presence and his life is about more than football. He also states that Pele’s legacy is impossible to summarise in words.
The 82-year-old Brazilian legend died on December 29 having spent a month in hospital for a respiratory infection and re-evaluation of the chemotherapy treatment over colon cancer identified in September 2021.
EARLIER PLANS TO RENAME MARACANÃ STADIUM
Even as FIFA president hopes of getting one stadium in every country named after Pele, a sad thing to note is about the plan to abandon renaming iconic Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro after Pele in 2021. The stadium held the deciding matches at the 1950 and 2014 World Cups and the Opening and Closing Ceremonies at the Rio 2016 Olympics and Paralympics. The plan was abandoned after proving divisive in Rio de Janeiro, with State Governor Claudio Castro issuing a veto.
