(Santos) FIFA will ask all its member countries to name a stadium in the name of Pelé, announced Monday its president Gianni Infantino, present in Santos, in the south-east of Brazil, for the funeral wake of the legendary footballer.
Mr. Infantino came to Brazil to pay tribute to what many consider the greatest player of all time, in the Vila Belmiro stadium of Santos FC, where the “King” began his career.
“We are going to ask all the countries in the world to name one of their stadiums in the name of Pelé,” the FIFA president told reporters.
Along with other football leaders, he was one of the first on Monday morning to pay his respects near Pele’s coffin, which was displayed in the center of the stadium lawn where the Brazilian wrote part of his legend.
“We are filled with sadness. Pelé is eternal, he is a global football icon,” he added.
At FIFA headquarters in Geneva, the flags of all countries were lowered to half-mast on Friday, the day after the death of the triple world champion, who had been battling colon cancer for more than a year.
Several hundred people flocked to the Santos FC stadium on Monday for the public funeral wake, which ends Tuesday at 10 a.m. (8 a.m. Eastern).
A procession will then travel through the streets of Santos, before the burial, reserved for the family.