Sports

FIFA To Ask Every Country To Name Stadium After Pele

FIFA President Gianni Infantino (C) attends the wake of Brazilian football legend Pele at the Urbano Caldeira stadium in Santos, Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 2, 2023. - Brazilians bid a final farewell this week to football giant Pele, starting Monday with a 24-hour public wake at the stadium of his long-time team, Santos. (Photo by CARL DE SOUZA / AFP)

FIFA President, Gianni Infantino has said countries around the world will be asked to name one of their stadiums after the late Brazilian football legend Pele.

Gatekeepers News earlier reported that Pele, fondly nicknamed the “king of football”, passed away last week after battling cancer.

Earlier today (Monday), Gatekeepers News reported that a 24-hour public wake began at the Santos’ Urbano Caldeira Stadium in Brazil in honour of the three-time World Cup winner.

Infantino, while speaking on the best way to immortalise Pele and his impact on football, said, “We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele.”

On Tuesday, Pelé’s coffin will be carried through the streets of the city of Santos.

The walk will continue to his final resting place at the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica cemetery, where family members will hold a private funeral.

Meanwhile, Pele’s 100-year-old mother is still unaware of her son’s death.

According to the sister of the Brazilian football legend, Maria Lucia do Nascimento, their mother still “doesn’t know the situation” and remains “in her own world” with little awareness about the news.