President Muhammadu Buhari has joined other world leaders, football stars and fans to mourn the late Brazilian football legend, Edson Arantes Do Nascimento, popularly known as Pelé.
Pelé died on Thursday at the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo at the age of 82.
His demise was announced by his daughter, Kely Nascimento, in an Instagram post on Thursday evening.
“Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace,” she wrote.
Widely acclaimed as the most iconic sportsman of all time, Pelé had been battling colon cancer since 2021.
In a statement signed by his senior special assistant for media and publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, President Buhari said the world will not forget the legacy and contributions of the departed soccer legend.
He added that, despite his greatness as a footballer, Pelé displayed generosity and humility while building bridges across nations, races and religions.
The president said, “May he rest in peace. He led a good life and made a huge contribution to the development of global football in particular and world sport in general.
“He had an enormous generosity of spirit and humility despite his greatness as a footballer and sportsman.
“He also built bridges across nations, races and even religions. He was a UN Ambassador of goodwill. Pelé is gone but the world will never forget him. RIP.”
As tributes continue to pour in from across the world, a tweet from the Brazilian Football Federation (CBF) read simply “King Pelé”, accompanied by three crown emojis.
Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro has declared three days of national mourning for Pelé, The Telegraph reports.
Pelé is the only player in football history to have won the World Cup three times – in 1958, 1962 and 1970 – scoring a joint record 77 goals in 92 international matches for Brazil.
A committee of experts voted him as the FIFA ‘Player of the Century’ in 2000.
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