Brazilian soccer legend Pele has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine.
"Stop the invasion.
There is absolutely no justification for this ongoing violence," the 81-year-old appealed to Putin in a letter posted to his Instagram account on Wednesday.
Pelé to Putin: "It's in your hands"
When he met Putin in the past and exchanged a smile accompanied by a long handshake, he never thought "that one day we would be as divided as we are now," Pele wrote.
“The power to end this conflict is in your hands.
The same ones I shook in Moscow when we last met in 2017.”
The Ukrainian national soccer team won the playoff semi-finals for the soccer World Cup in Qatar 3-1 against Scotland in Glasgow on Wednesday evening – and is now playing for the last European ticket for the World Cup in Wales on Sunday.
Pele wrote that at the football game against Scotland, Ukraine tries, at least for 90 minutes, to forget the tragedy that befell their country.
Fighting for a World Cup spot is a difficult task - almost impossible when so many lives are at stake.
Pelé only left the hospital at the end of April after renewed treatment for a tumor discovered more than six months ago.
At the beginning of September, he had a tumor removed from his colon that doctors discovered during a routine examination in a clinic in São Paulo.
Pelé played 92 international matches and won three World Cup titles (1958, 1962, 1970).