The funeral wake of legendary Brazilian footballer Pelé began on Monday with the opening of the doors of the Vila Belmiro stadium, in Santos, for a last tribute from the supporters in front of the coffin, which rests in the center of the lawn of his first Exploits. Access to the Santos FC stadium is authorized “without interruption” until Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time (2 p.m., in France).
Three giant banners were placed in the stands of the 16,000-seat enclosure: one showing Pelé, from the back, with the flocked jersey of No. 10 that the ex-striker immortalized, while on the other two, it read “Long live the king” and “Pelé 82 years old”. “I’m sure a lot of people will come to the wake, not just old people who saw him play, but also young people,” Silvio Neves Souza, a 54-year-old electrician, told AFP on vacation. in Santos.
After the funeral wake, a procession will set off through the streets of this port city located 75 km from Sao Paulo, before the burial, reserved for the family. The procession will pass in particular in front of the house of the centenary mother of Pelé, Dona Celeste, who “does not know” that her son is dead, according to Maria Lucia do Nascimento, one of the sisters of the deceased. “She is in her world,” she assured ESPN on Friday.