Soccer fans line up to attend the funeral of the late Brazilian soccer legend Pele at the Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos, Brazil, Jan. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
SANTOS, Brazil (AP) — Fans lined up early Monday outside the Vila Belmiro Stadium ahead of Pelé’s funeral in his hometown of Santos.
The Brazilian soccer great died Thursday after a battle with cancer. He was 82.
Pelé scored some of the best goals of his career at the 16,000-seat stadium outside Sao Paulo. His funeral is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. local time, and the burial will occur in a vertical cemetery only 600 meters away on Tuesday.
Fans started arriving at the stadium in the early hours of Monday to pay their last respects to Edson Arantes do Nascimento, globally known as Pelé.
One of them was Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Editionby email and never miss our top stories
“It is a very sad moment, but we are now seeing the real meaning of this legendary player to our country,” Mendes told journalists. “My office has shirts signed by Pelé, a picture of him as a goalkeeper, also signed by him. DVDs, photos, a big collection of him.”
Soccer fans sleep outside the Vila Belmiro stadium waiting for the doors to open for the funeral of the late Brazilian soccer star Pele, in Santos, Brazil, Jan. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
Mendes also said Pelé was a humble man despite his global fame, and that he deserves every tribute.
Inside the Vila Belmiro, a large tent has been set to place Pelé’s coffin.
Advertisement
Soccer fans wait outside the Vila Belmiro stadium for the doors to open for the funeral of the late Brazilian soccer star Pele, in Santos, Brazil, Monday, Jan. 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)
After Pelé’s funeral, his casket will be ushered through the streets of Santos before his burial. Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and other dignitaries are expected to attend.
FILE – In this June 21, 1970 file photo, Brazil’s Pele holds up his team’s Jules Rimet Trophy, or the FIFA World Cup Trophy, following Brazil’s 4-1 victory over Italy at the World Cup at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. (AP Photo, File)
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 cancer.
Is our live election coverage important to you?
Are you relying on The Times of Israel for accurate and timely coverage of the 2026 Israeli election? If so, please join The Times of Israel Community. For as little as $6/month, you will:
Support our independent journalists who are working around the clock to report political developments as they unfold;
Read ToI with a clear, ads-free experience on our site, apps and podcasts; and
Gain access to exclusive content shared only with the ToI Community, including our DocuNationstreaming film series and weekly letters from founding editor David Horovitz.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
