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The family of late Brazilian soccer star Edson Arantes do Nascimento, popularly known as Pele, have asked Santos FC to retire the number 10 shirt worn by the deceased from 1956–1974 when he scored 1091 goals in 1116 matches for the Sao Paulo club.
The three-time World Cup winner died on December 29, 2022, at the age of 82 after battling kidney problems and colon cancer.
The family hinted at this as the famous club released his burial plans shortly after he breathed his last at the Albert Einstein Hospital in So Paulo.
According to several Brazilian outlets, the body of Pelé, who was regarded as the King of Football, will be laid to rest at Estádio Urbano Caldeira, in Vila Belmiro, where he shone for 18 years.
The body will travel from the Albert Einstein Hospital straight to the Peixe Stadium in the early hours of Monday, January 2, and the coffin will be placed in the centre of the lawn.
The public wake is expected to begin at 10 a.m.
Fans will enter through gates 2 and 3, with exits through gates 7 and 8. Authorities will have access through Gate 10.
The ceremony will continue until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 3rd, when the funeral parade will take place through the streets of Santos, passing through Canal 6, where Pelé’s mother, Celeste, lives, before heading to the Ecumenical Necropolis Memorial, which is reserved for family members for the burial.
Playing alongside many gifted players, including Zito, Pepe, and Coutinho, Pele accomplished the most with Santos, winning six Campeonato Brasileiro Série A titles, two Copa Libertadores, two Intercontinental Cups, one Intercontinental Super Cup, and ten league titles. Campeonato Paulista and four Torneio Rio-So Paulo before he left the club for The New York Cosmos in 1975