Brazilian football legend Pele sent a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin and demanded him to "stop the invasion" of Ukraine, and considered the war that has been going on for nearly 100 days "unjustified".
Pele published the message through his account on the Instagram website yesterday, Wednesday, before the start of the match between Ukraine and Scotland in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers in Qatar.
"I would like to use today's match as an opportunity to make a request: stop the invasion, there is absolutely nothing that justifies such violence," the Brazilian legend wrote.
"Today, the Ukrainians are trying to forget - for at least 90 minutes - the tragedy that still affects their country," he added, adding that the circumstances surrounding the match complicate the task of qualifying for the World Cup, which is already a daunting task.
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And the three-time World Cup winner continued, "I have lived through 8 decades, during which I witnessed wars and hate speeches by leaders in the name of the security of their people, and we cannot go back to that era, we must advance."
He described what is happening in Ukraine as a "vicious and unjustified conflict that brings nothing but pain, fear and terror."
Pele noted that he met the Russian president in 2017, a year before the World Cup in Russia, and said, "We exchanged smiles and shook hands for a long time."
He concluded his message by saying, "The power to stop this conflict is in your hands; the same hands you shook hands with in 2017."
🏴🇺🇦 The
pass is more beautiful than the goal # World Cup Qualifiers # Scotland # Ukraine pic.twitter.com/7S8sUZLWbG
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) June 1, 2022
The health condition of the 81-year-old Brazilian star deteriorated during the last period, and he was diagnosed with colon cancer last September.
The Ukrainian team defeated Scotland 3-1 yesterday, and set up a date with Wales next Sunday in a decisive match for the passage to the World Cup finals hosted by Qatar, starting from November 21.
The winning team from the Ukraine-Wales match will be in Group B for the 2022 World Cup, along with England, the United States and Iran.