Jean-Baptiste Sarrazin 9:52 p.m., January 4, 2023, modified at 9:54 p.m., January 4, 2023
Brazilians have paid tribute to football legend Pelé.
But only a handful of World Cup winners with Brazil made the trip to attend the funeral.
Absences strongly criticized in the country of football as explained by the correspondent of Europe 1 in Brazil Éric Frosio in the program "Europe 1 Sport".
The funeral wake to pay a last tribute to football legend Pelé ended on Tuesday.
Hundreds of thousands of people came to say goodbye to the "King", who died of cancer at the age of 82 and whose remains will rest in the highest vertical cemetery in the world, in Santos.
A ceremony marred by the absence of the majority of the 1994 and 2002 world champions.
"Of the 46 world champion players in 1994 and/or 2002, only one was present at Pelé's funeral, it was Mauro Silva who is also vice-president of the Paulista Football Federation" , detailed the correspondent Éric Frosio in the program
Europe 1 Sport
(every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.).
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"Freezing Climate"
In reality, these absences were in no way a coincidence.
"The climate between Pelé and the players of the Seleçao was icy because Pelé had been critical of the team at the time", explained Éric Frosio.
And for good reason, the "King" had at the time (in 2022) announced that Brazil would not go beyond the quarter-finals... bad luck they were world champions.
"After the final victory (that of 2002), Pelé, who had not been invited by Fifa, was still present near the podium and after the presentation of the trophy the players shook his hand, looking away and Scolari (the Brazil coach at the time) would even have insulted him," added the correspondent in
Europe 1 Sport
.
Tensions that would obviously continue today are evidenced by these numerous absences at the funeral of the football legend.
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More or less acceptable excuses
The Brazilians, for their part, did not appreciate these absences.
Ricardo Kaká, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior and Ronaldo Nazario were the most criticized.
Some justified themselves like Cafu who explained that he was busy with work or Rivaldo who advanced the excuse of the distance which separates him from Santos, place of the funeral, since the latter lives in Orlando.
Neymar has also come under heavy criticism.
The PSG striker, star of Santos and the Brazilian national team, did not travel to Brazil because he would not have been released by the capital club.
However, his presence at a samba in Paris in the early hours of the morning sparked controversy.
The father of the star still went to the Vila to represent him.
Be that as it may, the controversy surrounding these absences is likely to remain at the heart of the discussions over the next few days in Brazil.