Pelé, funeral wake in Santos: Lula will also be there. Funeral Tuesday

Pele, Pele, Pele. Brazil and the world are preparing to say goodbye to a character who has already entered history. The theater of the tributes will be Santos, a city of about 500,000 inhabitants in the state of Sao Paulo where he arrived as a boy before becoming famous all over the planet, on and off the soccer fields.

24 HOURS

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The theater of this last greeting will be the stadium officially called Urbano Caldeira, but better known by sportsmen as Vila Belmiro. A request, that of having the wake held in this place, made by Pelé himself and then confirmed by the champion’s family after his disappearance, from 10 in the morning local time (14 in Italy) tomorrow until the same time on Tuesday. Two tents have been set up on the pitch. One reserved for the family and those closest to Pelé, next to the coffin of the former champion, right in the center of the field. Another, however, reserved for VIPs and authorities. The coffin is expected to arrive in Santos tomorrow morning, directly from the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, the capital of the state of the same name, where he died on December 29 last year.

FUNERAL PROCESSION

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The route will be covered by road with the escort of the Military Police and the Fire Brigade. After the vigil at Vila Belmiro, the funeral procession will make a tour of Santos. On the way, the coffin will pass in front of the residence of Celeste, Pelé’s mother, who is 100 years old. In an interview broadcast by ESPN to Maria Lúcia, Pelé’s sister, the sad news had not yet been communicated to the champion’s mother. After the vigil, however, Pelé will be buried in the Memorial Acrópole Ecumenica vertical cemetery, and only the closest relatives will be able to attend there. Pelé himself chose to be buried there, from where the Vila Belmiro can be seen from above. He will rest on the ninth floor: a tribute to his father Dondinho, who passed away some time ago, who had worn the number nine shirt as a centre-forward.

LULA AND NEYMAR?

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The president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, called Ednaldo Rodrigues, president of the CBF, to confirm his trip to Brazil for the wake. Both will be at Vila Belmiro, also accompanied by the president of the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol), Alejandro Domínguez. The presence of Lula, the newly installed president of the Republic of Brazil, is also hypothesized. The news has leaked from Paris that Neymar will not be able to be present due to commitments already made with PSG. The Brazilian champion himself had tried to visit Pelé in the hospital when he went to Brazil after the World Cup in Qatar, but it had not been possible, despite the contacts he had in those days with Pelé’s family. The talent of both, in fact, blossomed at Santos. After the announcement of his death, Neymar posted a tribute to Pelé on his social networks. The star has also changed his profile picture to a golden crown with a black background, again in honor of the great Brazilian champion, which already stands out on the giant screen of the Santos stadium, in honor of the King of football.