The burial of the late football legend Pele has been slated for Monday and Tuesday next week.
The wake will be held on Monday and his body will be laid to rest on Tuesday at his Santos home, where he enchanted the world, according to his former club.
The Santos football club, in a statement, said, “The wake for the greatest footballer of all time will be held in Urbano Caldeira Stadium, better known as the Vila Belmiro, where he enchanted the world.”
The statement added that Pele would then get a funeral procession through the city’s streets before a private burial ceremony.
The body of Pele, who died at the age of 82 on Thursday, will be taken from the Albert Einstein Hospital to Estádio Urbano Caldeira in Vila Belmiro Monday morning, and the coffin will be placed in the centre of the pitch. The wake is expected to begin at 10am.
The statement said those who want to pay their last respect to the King of Football will enter through two gates and separate to politicians and the authorities.
An image of the Brazilian football legend, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pele, whose death was announced on Thursday, is displayed on the facade of the headquarters of Conmebol, the South American Football Confederation, in Luque, Paraguay, on December 29, 2022.
The Brazilian football icon Pele, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time and a three-time World Cup winner who masterminded the “beautiful game,”.
The Albert Einstein hospital treating Pele in Sao Paulo said in a statement his death after a long battle with cancer was caused by “multiple organ failure.”
According to a Daily Mail UK report, the ceremony will continue until 10am on Tuesday, January 3, when the parade will take place through the streets of Santos.
It will pass through Canal 6, where Pele’s 100-year-old mother, Celeste, lives, before heading to the Ecumenical Necropolis Memorial for the private burial reserved for family members.
The press will have access through gate 20 and prior registration will be required, by email, with the rules informed on the club’s official website, according to Daily Mail UK.
Brazil’s players hold a banner dedicated to banner Brazilian football legend Pele at the end of the Qatar 2022 World Cup round of 16 football match between Brazil and South Korea at Stadium 974 in Doha on December 5, 2022.
The legend’s daughter, Kely Nascimento, confirming Pele’s passing wrote in a social media post, “Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace.”
There was a message to the three million followers on Pele’s official Twitter account, too: “Inspiration and love marked the journey of King Pele, who peacefully passed away today. Love, love and love, forever.”
Tributes have continued to flow in for the only man to win the World Cup three times, first as a 17-year-old in 1958, again in Chile four years later and then the iconic third win in Mexico in 1970.
Pele scored 1,282 goals in 1,366 games in his football career, which included 77 in 92 appearances for his country.