FIFA will ask every country in the world to name a stadium in honour of Pele, the governing body's president Gianni Infantino has said.

The Brazil great, who won the World Cup three times and scored over 1,000 goals in his career, died on December 29 aged 82 after a battle with cancer.

Infantino, who was in Brazil for Pele's funeral in Sao Paulo, told local reporters: "We're going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele."

It is not clear how this proposal will work in practice as few national federations own their own stadia and the ones that do are more likely to name them after local heroes or sponsors.

The only Australian stadium Pele played in, the Sydney Sports Ground in 1972, has since been demolished. The site is part of the Sydney Football Stadium (Allianz) car park.

Source: Goulburn Post

BDST: 1016 HRS, JAN 03, 2023
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