Infantino speaking at Pele’s funeral began on Monday said the reason behind the idea is to let children know the importance of the soccer legend
By Kehinde Okeowo
FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, has disclosed that the world football governing body will encourage every country to name a stadium after the late football legend, Pele.
The three-time World Cup winner was admitted to the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo on November 29 and recently spent Christmas Day there with his family gathering therein at his bedside.
Pele eventually passed away last week at the age of 82 after a battle with colon cancer.
Infantino after his death, said all countries belonging to FIFA will be asked to honour one of the all-time greats with the gesture of naming stadiums after him.
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Speaking as Pele’s funeral began in Santos on Monday, the FIFA president said: “We are going to ask that all countries in the world have at least one stadium with the name of Pele.”
He then justified the decision by saying FIFA will be taking the important step “so that children know Pele’s importance. ”
The whole of Brazil began paying its respects to Pele on Monday, as his coffin arrived at the stadium where he made his mark.
Meanwhile, prior to his death, Pele asked to be buried in a skyscraper cemetery, called Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica.
The Brazilian cemetery is located in Santos, in the state of São Paulo and it is 32 stories high.
It occupied a total of 1.8 hectares of land and contains about 16,000 graves. It was named in the Guinness World Records as the tallest cemetery in the world.