The coffin with Pelé’s body has arrived at FC Santos stadium. The football legend is now laid out for a wake on the football field of his parent club. Pelé died on December 29, 2022 as a result of colon cancer. The three-time world champion was 82 years old.
The coffin was driven from the Albert Einstein Hospital in São Paulo to the stadium in Santos, accompanied by a motorcade. A number of fans paid their last respects to their idol during the two-hour roadside drive. A 24-hour vigil is now being held at FC Santos stadium. The open coffin is placed in a pavilion with 80 chairs for relatives and close friends. Fans can walk five meters to the coffin via a catwalk to say goodbye.
After the wake in the stadium, Pelé is escorted in a funeral procession to his final resting place. The athlete of the century is buried on the ninth floor of the high-rise Memorial Necropole Ecumenica, which is used as a cemetery. His grave is next to that of his longtime strike partner Coutinho, who died in 2019.
The procession also goes through the neighborhood where Pelé’s mother Celeste lives. In November 2022 she turned 100 years old.
