Two African countries – Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau – and one Latin American nation, Colombia, have so far renamed stadia after the legendary Brazilian footballer, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly called Pele.
Pele died on December 29, 2022 at the age of 82 due to multiple organ failure, a complication of colon cancer.
The renaming of stadia followed an appeal by the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, who during Pele’s funeral procession in Brazil on Monday, said there should be a way to immortalise the legend and his impact on football.
He suggested that each of FIFA’s 211 member associations should name at least one stadium or football venue after the Brazilian legend.
“We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele,” the FIFA president said.
Heeding the appeal, the government of Cape Verde was the first to announce its intention to rename its national stadium after the legend.
The country’s prime minister, Jose Ulisses Correia e Silva, who broke the news in a post on Facebook on Wednesday said Estádio da Várzea located in Praia, the country’s capital, will be named “Pele Stadium”.
Cape Verde, which is made up of a group of islands to the west of the main African continent in the Atlantic Ocean, shares Portuguese as a common language with Brazil.
“Cape Verde and Brazil have a history and culture that go hand in hand, considering that they are two brother countries, connected by language and by very similar identities,” the prime minister said.
“And with the physical disappearance of Edson Arantes de Nascimento, King Pelé, a born Brazilian citizen, who early became a global figure, and icon of the masses proved that sport has the power to unite the world, now we desire to praise him.
“Pelé was and will always be a reference in Brazil and all the rest of the world, being an idol that connects several generations.
“As tribute and recognition to this figure that makes us all great, I express my intention to name our national stadium, “Pele Stadium”, an initiative that I believe several countries around the world will follow us.
“We have already communicated to FIFA our intention because it was that institution launching the challenge and we hope to be able to soon concretize this symbolic act,” he wrote.
The Guinea Bissau government also responded to Infantino’s appeal by deciding to change the name of the Bafatá field, the second capital of the country, to Estádio Pelé.
The decision was taken at the council of ministers, meeting in Bissau, under the chairmanship of the head of state, Umaro Sissoco Embalo.
“As a result and as an expression of public recognition of the status of King of World Football that is granted to him, the council of ministers decided to name the Regional State of Bafatá ‘Pele Stadium’ in response to the appeal of the president of FIFA,” the government said in a statement.
Formerly, Bafatá’s playing field was called Estádio da Rocha and was used by Sporting Clube de Bafatá, a club founded in 1937 that regularly competes in the Guinean first division football championship.
Among the Latin American countries, Columbia is the first to respond to Infantino’s appeal.
The governor of Colombia’s southern Meta department, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga announced on Twitter that a stadium in the city of Villavicencio “will be called Bello Horizonte ‘Rey Pele’.”
“From the Colombian plains, we announce to the world that our wonderful stadium in Villavicencio will be called Bello Horizonte ‘Rey Pelé.’
“The future generations should know who this icon of world football was. We have accepted FIFA’s suggestion.”
The 15,000 capacity stadium inaugurated in 1958 was previously called simply Bello Horizonte, which means “beautiful skyline” in Spanish.
It is the home of modest second division Colombian side Llaneros.
