SAO PAULO/SANTOS, Brazil (Reuters) – Brazil on Friday mourned the death of one of its brightest stars, soccer legend Pele, who died at the age of 82 after battling colon cancer for just over a year.
Outside Sao Paulo’s Albert Einstein hospital, where Pele had been undergoing treatment, fans gathered to mourn the loss of one of the greatest ever exponents of the beautiful game, displaying Pele memorabilia on a clothesline by the entrance.
“I’ll never forget him, the Brazilian king of soccer,” said 67-year-old Antonio da Paz. “He provided us with joy even in our saddest times.”
Pele’s death has unified Brazil, a country starkly divided by a bruising presidential election. Outgoing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves office on Sunday, declared three days of mourning.
Monuments have been lit up to honour him, including Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer statue and Sao Paulo’s NeoQuimica Arena, where the opening match of the 2014 World Cup was played.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento – Pele’s given name – died on Thursday at 3:27 p.m. local time (18:27 GMT) “due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition,” the hospital said in a statement.
Pele’s wake will take place on Monday, only after the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in the center of the field at the stadium of Santos, his hometown club.
The next day, a procession carrying his coffin will pass through the streets of the coastal city of Santos, ending at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where he will be buried in a private ceremony.
(Reporting by Sergio Queiroz and Gabriel Araujo in Sao Paulo, Lais Morais in Santos, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
