Brazil on Friday mourned the death of one of its brightest stars, soccer legend Pele, who died at the age of 82 after battling colon cancer for just over a year.
Outside Sao Paulo's Albert Einstein hospital, where Pele had been undergoing treatment, fans gathered to mourn the loss of one of the greatest ever exponents of the beautiful game, displaying Pele memorabilia on a clothesline by the entrance.
"I'll never forget him, the Brazilian king of soccer," said 67-year-old Antonio da Paz. "He provided us with joy even in our saddest times."
??????Pele fans mourn his death outside the hospital where Brazil's football legend died: "Eternal king Pele" reads a banner hung by fans of the legendary Brazilian footballer outside the Albert-Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo where the athlete had been undergoing treatment pic.twitter.com/hQZxJcL30Q
— ??World News 24 ?????? (@DailyWorld24) December 30, 2022
Pele's death has unified Brazil, a country starkly divided by a bruising presidential election. Outgoing far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who leaves office on Sunday, declared three days of mourning.
As a sign of our deepest respect for the great man and superb athlete “Pelé” Édson Arantes do Nascimento, his family, friends, all of Brazil and multitudes of admirers worldwide, a three-day National period of mourning for the Brazilian hero was decreed by President Bolsonaro. pic.twitter.com/vS4vjm2XrA
— Government of Brazil (@govbrazil) December 30, 2022
Monuments have been lit up to honour him, including Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue and Sao Paulo's NeoQuimica Arena, where the opening match of the 2014 World Cup was played.
The Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio and Wembley Stadium in London is lit with the colors of the Brazilian flag in tribute to Pelé ???? pic.twitter.com/3VGg1PAGFe
— ESPN (@espn) December 29, 2022
"I lost my brother," Pele's longtime personal assistant Jose Pepito Fornos told Reuters. "But we'll have all eternity to be together in the Father's house.".
Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Pele's given name - died on Thursday at 3:27 pm local time "due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition," the hospital said in a statement.
Pele's wake will take place on Monday, only after the inauguration of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, in the center of the field at the stadium of Santos, his hometown club, which experienced a cloudy and rainy Friday morning.
Brazil's incoming president, who takes office on Sunday, is expected to attend the ceremony on Tuesday morning, but no final decision has been taken yet, two sources close to Lula said.
Most of the people around the stadium were reporters, while the club's staff prepared the venue for Pele's memorial. A message on the stadium's big screen read "Thank you, Pele".
On Tuesday, a procession carrying his coffin will pass through the streets of the coastal city of Santos, ending at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where Pele will be buried in a private ceremony.