Rio backs off plan to rename Maracana stadium for Pele
Issued on:
07/04/2021 - 00:40 Brazil s legendary Maracana stadium will no longer be renamed for Pele, its most celebrated football player Nelson ALMEIDA AFP 2 min
Rio de Janeiro (AFP)
The Rio de Janeiro state legislature backed down Tuesday from plans to rename Brazil s iconic Maracana stadium for football legend Pele, after the proposal triggered controversy.
In an unusual move, legislative speaker Andre Ceciliano, who sponsored the bill, asked interim governor Claudio Castro to veto rather than sign it.
After lawmakers voted on March 9 to change the stadium s official name to Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Rei Pele to honor the three-time world champion, critics questioned why they were spending their time on such matters in the middle of a raging health crisis in Brazil, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Rio cancels plan to rename Maracana
State legislature wanted to put Pele’s name on the fabled stadium
AFP April 07, 2021
RIO DE JANEIRO:
The Rio de Janeiro state legislature backed down Tuesday from plans to rename Brazil s iconic Maracana stadium for football legend Pele, after the proposal triggered controversy.
In an unusual move, legislative speaker Andre Ceciliano, who sponsored the bill, asked interim governor Claudio Castro to veto rather than sign it.
After lawmakers voted on March 9 to change the stadium s official name to Edson Arantes do Nascimento - Rei Pele to honor the three-time world champion, critics questioned why they were spending their time on such matters in the middle of a raging health crisis in Brazil, hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Maracana will be eternally called Maracana, Ceciliano said.
The Legislative Assembly of the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro (Alert) Tuesday decided to go back on its steps and drop the initiative to rename the iconic Maracana stadium after football legend Pelé.
The name change sparked controversy in Brazil, which is experiencing the worst moment of the pandemic, with records of deaths and hospitals on the brink of collapse.
The author of the initiative and Assembly Speaker André Ceciliano (Workers Party, left), asked Interim Governor Claudio Castro to veto it due to the uneasiness it generated and considering that the authorities should focus on fighting the pandemic of coronavirus.
That 2-1 defeat against Argentina also featured his first goal in the yellow shirt.
But most of Pele astonishing performances in Brazil were at Santos tiny Vila Belmiro, outside Sao Paulo, about 500km from Rio.
The Rio stadium s official name is Jornalista Mario Filho, after a Brazilian sportswriter credited with the idea to build such a colossus for the 1950 World Cup.
Filho s grandson, Mario Neto, told
The Associated Press that he recognises the importance of Pele in Brazilian football culture but said the proposed change is irrational.
Gerson, a teammate of Pele on Brazil s 1970 World Cup-winning team, said on his YouTube channel that the possible change in the Maracana s name is absurd .
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