Pele, the legend of Brazil said to be the greatest football player of all time or the greatest sportsman there was, was buried on Tuesday.
His Catholic funeral Mass was held at the team’s Vila Belmiro stadium before his black casket was driven through the streets of Santos in a fire-truck, international news agencies reported.
It was taken into the cemetery as bands played the team’s official song and a Roman Catholic hymn. Before the golden-wrapped casket arrived, attendees sang samba songs that Pelé liked.
Caio Zalke, 35, an engineer, wore a Brazil shirt as he waited in the line.
“Pele is the most important Brazilian of all time.
“He made the sport important for Brazil and he made Brazil important for the world,” Zalke said according to a report filed by AP.
The report said Pele was perhaps the world’s most famous athlete who met presidents and queens and a civil war in Nigeria was put on hold so people could watch him play. Many Brazilians credit Pelé with putting the country on the world stage for the first time. FIFA or World Football President Gianni Infantino who was present at the funeral told journalists that every country should name a stadium after Pelé.
“I am here with a lot of emotion, sadness, but also with a smile because he gave us so many smiles,” Infantino said. “As FIFA, we will pay a tribute to the ‘King’ and we ask the whole world to observe a minute of silence.”
Pelé had undergone treatment for colon cancer since 2021. The medical center where he had been hospitalized said he died of multiple organ failure as a result of the cancer.