Pele died, Thursday, after a long struggle with bowel cancer, at the age of 82, leaving a state of sadness in the sports community and all his fans around the world.
coup attempt
The details of the frightening incident go back, when Pele was visiting the Nigerian city of Lagos in 1976, as part of a trip sponsored by a famous carbonated water company, to find himself in the midst of an attempted military coup..
That coup attempt resulted in the assassination of the ruler, General Murtala Muhammad, and the execution of Colonel Boca Soka Dimka by firing squad, after government forces removed him from power within hours..
Pilot uniform
What made the situation worse was that Pele was not the only world star there at the time, as the late American tennis player, Arthur Ashe, who was participating in the Lagos tournament, was also present.
During the semi-final match with compatriot Jeff Boroviak, Ash was removed from the stadium by armed soldiers and taken to the Federal Palace Hotel with Pele.
And as soon as the government opened the borders, the Brazilian authorities insisted that its star wear a pilot’s uniform, to hide his identity and preserve his life.
A temporary truce for a civil war
Pele’s stardom and football fun had an impact on the most complex crises. In the beginning of 1969, the Santos team, led by Pele, went to the brown continent on a tour, although Africa was in the midst of bloody turmoil..
At the time, Nigeria was experiencing a civil war with a separatist region, Biafra, due to the desire of the Igbo people to secede from the central government dominated by the Hausa-Fulani tribes from the north of the country..
Santos arrived in the middle of the crisis, and was ready to play a match in Lagos on January 26, 1969, and as soon as Pele and his colleagues entered the city, the cannons fell silent and the crowd gathered around him..
For two days, the two sides struck a truce, as Santos drew 2-2 with Nigeria, with legend Pele scoring both goals and earning a standing ovation from the crowd..
Nigerian and Western media quoted two of Pele’s colleagues, Gilmar and Coutinho, as saying that the ceasefire barely lasted as long as the team was there. Once the team’s plane took off, they could hear gunshots from inside the plane and the struggle resumed.
While another colleague said: “Stopping the war was another point in our favor to show our superiority. We could have turned around easily and refused and said war all around us – why should we get into that mess? .. But we didn’t, we wanted to do it and said (we are not obligated to play, But we want to and we will)”.
Unfailing public love
Saeed Sadiq, a professor of political sociology at the American University in Cairo, told Sky News Arabia that many soccer players at the present time “have many requirements even on the grounds of the stadiums, but if there is a match in one of the countries that is experiencing disturbances, even if simple They refuse, and some ask for great guarding and protection.
And he added, “As for Pele, he used to play football for the audience’s enjoyment, without any other accounts, so the fans’ love for him has not dried up, even though he retired many decades ago.”.
He explained that “Pele was like the greatest ambassador of his country once he attended on any occasion, as he is a national hero there for his achievements in football, and his frank support for policies that improve the social conditions of the poor.”.
Sadiq called on those who play football to “follow the example of the Brazilian legend in promoting global friendship, and to distance themselves from the nervousness that has become the dominant feature at the present time, because it is not like that to play football.”
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