Cape Verde Names National Stadium In Honour Of Pele

Following a request from FIFA, the Prime Minister of Cape Verde has declared that the country’s national stadium will be renamed after Pele.

Following a protracted fight with colon cancer, the global football hero died on Thursday, December 29, 2022.

Pele, a three-time FIFA World Cup winner, scored over 1000 goals during his career and is widely recognized as the greatest footballer of all time.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino told reporters at Pele’s funeral that the football governing organization will ask its member organizations to designate a stadium after the Brazilian legend.

“For everyone who loves the beautiful game, this is the day we never wanted to come. The day we lost Pele,” Infantino said.

“We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele.”

In light of the FIFA president’s request, Cape Verde have now taken steps to rename 15,000-seater Estadio Nacional de Cabo Verde in the country’s capital after Pele.

“As a tribute and recognition to this figure that makes us all great, I manifest the intention of naming our national stadium as “Pele Stadium”, in an initiative that, I believe, will be followed by several countries around the world,” Prime Minister Ulisses Correira e Silva stated in Facebook post.

“With the physical disappearance of Edson Arantes de Nascimento, King Pele, who soon became a planetary figure, an icon of the masses showing that sport has the power to unite the world, it is now our wish to pay tribute to him,” added Mr Silva in a statement that stressed the importance of Pele to Portuguese-speaking countries like Cape Verde.

“Cape Verde and Brazil have a history and culture that go hand in hand, considering they are two sister countries, linked by language and very similar identities.

“Pele was and always will be a reference in Brazil, in our Portuguese-speaking countries and in the rest of the world, being an idol that links several generations.”