Gianni Infantino Pele Brazil Colombia Usa Santos Cape Verde Football FIFA stadium Gianni Infantino Pele Brazil Colombia Usa Santos Cape Verde

Colombian stadium first in Latin America renamed after Pele

channelnewsasia.com

BOGOTA: Colombia is the first Latin American country to meet FIFA president Gianni Infantino's request to name a stadium after Pele.Infantino on Monday said world football's governing body would ask all countries to name a stadium after the Brazilian icon, widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time, who died last week after a long battle with illness.And late on Wednesday, the governor of Colombia's southern Meta department, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga announced on Twitter that a stadium in the city of Villavicencio "will be called BELLO HORIZONTE 'REY PELE'.""Future generations must know who this world football icon was," said Zuluaga.The 15,000 capacity stadium inaugurated in 1958 was previously called simply Bello Horizonte, which means "beautiful skyline" in Spanish.It is the home of modest second division Colombian side Llaneros.Pele died on December 29 aged 82 following a long battle with colon cancer.He was buried on Tuesday in Santos, the city where he played most of his football career and made his name.While attending Pele's wake, Infantino said he would ask all FIFA's member federations to pay tribute to Pele by renaming a stadium after the three-time World Cup winner.Colombia was beaten to the stadium move by Cape Verde, whose prime minister Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva had announced earlier on Wednesday the renaming of the national stadium in the capital Praia.The northeastern Brazilian city of Maceio has since 1979 had a stadium called "Rei Pele" (King Pele) although it is commonly known as the Trapichao.

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The coffin of the late Brazilian football star Pele is transported to the Santos’ Memorial Cemetery after the funeral procession in Santos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil on January 3, 2023. – Brazilian football legend Pele’s remains arrived Tuesday at the cemetery where he will be interred in a mausoleum, after three days of national mourning, a 24-hour wake and a massive funeral procession. Pele’s casket, draped in the Brazilian flag and that of his longtime club, Santos FC, arrived atop a red firetruck at the Santos Memorial Cemetery, near the stadium where “The King” began his rise to become what many consider the greatest footballer of all time. (Photo by CAIO GUATELLI / AFP)
Infantino was in the city of Santos, Brazil, to pay his final respects to the player widely considered the greatest of all time, who died Thursday at the age of 82.
A flood of fans, politicians and football dignitaries have flocked to pay their respects to the player known as "The King" in the southeastern city of Santos, home to the club where he spent most of his storied career.
Mourners wear jerseys with an image of Brazilian football legend Pele as they queue to get in the Urbano Caldeira stadium, also known as Vila Belmiro, where a wake in his honour is being held, in Santos, Sao Paulo State, 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)
An emotional Brazil began paying its final respects Monday to football legend Pele with a wake at the stadium where he first took the world's breath away with his dazzling skill.

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