Legend of a beautiful game; undisputed king of football, Pele passes away

Sao Paulo: The 82-year-old Pele, a legendary Brazilian soccer player who came from barefoot poverty to become one of the finest and most well-known athletes in contemporary history, passed away on Thursday.

Pele passed away at 3:27 p.m., according to the Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo, where he was receiving treatment "due to multiple organ failures resulting from the progression of colon cancer associated with his previous medical condition."

His Instagram account verified his passing. He was the only person to have won the World Cup three times as a player.

"Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today," it read, adding he had "enchanted the world with his genius in sport, stopped a war, carried out social works all over the world and spread what he most believed to be the cure for all our problems: love."

The worlds of sport, politics and popular culture all paid tribute to a person who personified Brazil's dominance in the "beautiful game."

Three days have been set aside for mourning by the administration of President Jair Bolsonaro, who is leaving office on Sunday. In a statement, the government praised Pele as "a great citizen and patriot, raising the name of Brazil wherever he went."

Pele had been receiving chemotherapy ever since a tumour in his colon was removed in September 2021, Reuters reported.

Additionally, he had trouble walking without assistance ever since an unsuccessful hip procedure in 2012. On the eve of the coronavirus pandemic in February 2020, his son Edinho claimed that Pele was depressed due to his declining physical condition.

In the stadium of Santos, Pele's hometown team where he began playing as a teenager and quickly climbed to fame, a 24-hour wake will be held for him on Monday.

The next day, his coffin will be carried in a procession through the streets of Santos, through the neighbourhood where his 100-year-old mother resides, and will then be buried privately in the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery.

Pele, real name Edson Arantes do Nascimento, joined Santos in 1956 and helped make the little coastal team one of football's most recognisable brands.

The South American version of the Champions League, the Copa Libertadores, and the Intercontinental Cup, an annual competition between the top teams in Europe and South America, were among the numerous regional and national championships that Pele won.

He won three World Cup championship medals: the first one at the age of 17 in Sweden in 1958; the second in Chile four years later, despite missing most of the competition due to injury; and the third in Mexico in 1970, when he captained what is regarded as one of the greatest teams to ever play the game.

Depending on how matches are calculated, he scored between 1,281 and 1,283 goals throughout the course of a spectacular 21-year career.

But unlike any other player before or since, Pele went beyond soccer and became one of the first 20th-century global icons.

He was more well-known than many Hollywood stars, popes, or presidents thanks to his endearing smile and humble demeanour that won over legions of fans. He met many, if not most of these people during his six-decade career as a player and corporate pitchman.

Pele was named "Athlete of the Century" by the International Olympic Committee, co-"Football Player of the Century" by the world soccer body FIFA, and a "national treasure" by Brazil's government.

Brazil's CBF soccer federation said "Pele was much more than the greatest sportsman of all time... The King of Soccer was the ultimate exponent of a victorious Brazil."

The French soccer star Kylian Mbappé, who many consider to be the best player in the world right now, also expressed his sympathy.

"The king of football has left us but his legacy will never be forgotten," he wrote on Twitter. "RIP KING."