We all love Pele's pronouncements because after they are made the total opposite usually happens. Failing that, Pele just gets it plain wrong.
It was perfect timing when Pele announced his full support for Joseph "Sepp" Blatter on being re-elected as FIFA president during the current FIFA corruption crisis. That's when the writing was on the wall for Blatter! Subsequently, the beleaguered Blatter announced his resignation the next day.
Pelé has welcomed the re-election of Sepp Blatter as Fifa’s president, despite the crisis surrounding the organisation. Blatter secured a fifth term in charge
at Fifa’s annual congress in Zurich last week after seeing off the
challenge of Jordan’s Prince Ali bin al-Hussein. The 79-year-old faced
calls to step down after the FBI arrested 14 Fifa executives and officials
over “rampant and systemic” corruption allegations. However, Pelé
backed Blatter’s re-election and believes his experience made the Swiss
the only choice for the post.
“I was in favour. It was necessary because it is better to have
people with experience,” Pelé said Sunday after arriving in Havana see a
charity match. “He’s a man who has been there for 25 years [with Fifa],
you have to respect him, it was an election.”
Pelé is in Cuba where he will watch his former club New York Cosmos
play the national team at the Pedro Marrero Stadium in Havana on
Tuesday. The match, which will make Cosmos the first professional
American sports team in 16 years to play in Cuba, has been organised to mark the thawing of relations between the two countries.
The Brazilian club Mogi Mirim, who have the former Brazil and
Barcelona star Rivaldo as president, have fired Pelé’s son Edinho as
coach. The 44-year-old leaves the second division side just four matches
into the league season.
Before joining Mogi Mirim, Edinho was one of the assistant coaches
for Santos, the club where his father thrived in the 1960s. He briefly
played for the club as a goalkeeper in the 1990s.
Edinho recently made headlines after being convicted in a money
laundering case that involved a drugs gang. He is appealing a 33-year
prison sentence.
Perhaps Thomas Jefferson said it best with: “Reason and free inquiry are the only effectual agents against error“. Much error exists in the world and this blog, from the perspective of one Hong Kong SAR resident, is a small attempt to minimize errors.
(this site was formerly HKSAR Blog)
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