Brazil football star Pele died of cancer at the age of 82, and his funeral will take place on January 2 and 3 at the stadium where he played some of his best matches. Santos, Pele's old team in Brazil, said in a statement that the public would be allowed to pay their condolences at Vila Belmiro Stadium outside Sao Paulo.
Santos said that the casket carrying the three-time World Cup champion will depart Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo early Monday morning and be placed in the field's center circle.
Visitation will begin Monday at 10 a.m. and end the next day at the same hour.
Pele's casket will be taken through the streets of Santos, passing in front of his 100-year-old mother, Celeste's, home. According to recent reports in Brazilian media, Pele's mother is unable to leave her bed and is not lucid.
The funeral will be held in Santos' Memorial Necropole Ecumênica, a vertical cemetery. Only family members will be present.
Pele owns a home in Santos, where he spent the majority of his life. He lived the last years of his life in the city of Guarujá.
Pele underwent colon cancer surgery in September 2021. Neither his family nor the hospital have stated whether or not the cancer had spread to other organs. On November 29, he returned to the Albert Einstein hospital with COVID-19 and a respiratory infection.
His cancer had advanced, according to a hospital statement last week.
Pele led Brazil to World Cup triumphs in 1958, 1962, and 1970, and he is still the team's all-time greatest scorer with 77 goals. During this year's World Cup in Qatar, Neymar equaled Pele's record.
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