If you don’t take a selfie at a funeral, how will anyone know you were there? That was obviously the thought process of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has come under fire for doing just that near football great Pele’s coffin.
As thousands of supporters lined the streets of Santos to pay their respects at the public wake on Monday, Infantino was seen posing with Pele’s former teammates just metres from the coffin.
He has a history of embarrassing blunders.
The football world was left stunned following his jaw-dropping speech before the FIFA World Cup in November declaring, “Today I feel Qatari. Today I feel Arabic. Today I feel African. Today I feel gay. Today I feel disabled. Today I feel [like] a migrant worker.”
Fans – as well as normal everyday people with decent morals – have once again been floored by his latest antics, and lack of respect for the late Pele.
And they were quick to blast the already unliked FIFA president for his disgraceful funeral etiquette.
But for some unknown reason, Infantino seems genuinely baffled by the backlash from his selfie. He says he is ‘dismayed’ over the criticism he has received and responded to the outcry on social media as soon as he arrived back home.
“Just landed from my trip to Brazil where I had the privilege to participate in the beautiful homage to Pelé that took place at Vila Belmiro, in Santos,” Infantino wrote on Instagram.
“I am dismayed after having been informed that I am apparently being criticised by some people for having taken a selfie and pictures at the ceremony yesterday.
“I would like to clarify that I was both honoured and humbled that teammates and family members of the great Pelé asked me if I could take a few photos with them. And obviously I immediately agreed.
“In the case of the selfie, Pelé’s teammates asked to do a selfie of all of us together but they didn’t know how to do it. So, to be helpful, I took the phone of one of them and took the photo of all of us for him.
“If being helpful to a teammate of Pelé creates criticism I’m happy to take it and will continue to be helpful wherever I can to those having contributed to write legendary pages of football.
“I have so much respect and admiration for Pelé and for that ceremony yesterday that I would never do anything that would be disrespectful in any way whatsoever.
“I hope that those who published or said things without knowing and without seeking information could have the decency and courage to admit they were wrong and correct what they said.
“The most important in any case is to pay tribute to King Pele, and whilst I humbly suggested that throughout our 211 member associations at least one football stadium or venue is named after him, we will set the example by giving the pitch in our headquarters the name “Estadio Pele — FIFA Zurich.” Um abraco e viva o Rei!”
You can just see why Infantino is loved and adored the world over.
Pele, whose given name was Edson Arantes do Nascimento, joined Santos in 1956 and turned the small coastal club into one of the most famous names in football.
(Photo credit STAFF/AFP via Getty Images)
In addition to a host of regional and national titles, Pele won two Copa Libertadores, the South American equivalent of the Champions League, and two Intercontinental Cups, the annual tournament held between the best teams in Europe and South America.
He took home three World Cup winner’s medals, the first time as a 17-year-old in Sweden in 1958, the second in Chile four years later – even though he missed most of the tournament through injury – and the third in Mexico in 1970, when he led what is considered to be one of the greatest sides ever to play the game.
Pele had been undergoing chemotherapy since he had a tumour removed from his colon in September 2021 and died last week at the age of 82.
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