One of the most admired athletes in history, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pelé, who died on Thursday (29), at the age of 82, always avoided political activism, but still carried out historic meetings with world leaders. The prestige gained on the field gave the football king the opportunity to meet with politicians from different ideological spectrums, religious leaders and royalty.
Six US presidents or former leaders have met with the Brazilian. In one of the most remarkable episodes, in 1973, Pelé was received by Richard Nixon (1969-1974) at the White House, in Washington.
In a meeting in a very informal tone and stamped with laughter, the three-time world champion, who still played for Santos, explained the differences between football with feet and head and American football.
“Do you speak any Spanish?” Nixon asked when he found him. “No, Portuguese. But it’s all the same thing”, he replied, uninhibited, through the translator, before posing for a photo with the American.
Pelé would return to the White House on other occasions. In 1974, when he was playing for the New York Cosmos, the player posed for photos and hit the ball with Gerald Ford (1974-1977) in the gardens of the residence. The Brazilian tried to teach the American how to do embaixadinhas, but the republican preferred to risk bids with the ball in his hands.
Eight years later, Pelé was revered by Ronald Reagan (1981-1989) at the same location. “Pleasure, I’m Ronald Reagan, president of the United States. But you don’t need to introduce yourself, because everyone knows who Pelé is”, the American would have said when he met the Brazilian in 1982.
Jimmy Carter (1977-1981), Bill Clinton (1993-2001) and Barack Obama (2009-2007) were other American leaders who met with the king of football. Obama met the Brazilian in 2019, when he had already left the Presidency and visited Brazil to participate in an event on the digital economy and business.
US opponent in geopolitical chess, Russian President Vladimir Putin met Pelé in Moscow during the 2017 Confederations Cup, a championship held a year before the World Cup.
Recently, the three-time world champion recalled the meeting to criticize the Ukrainian War in an open letter to the Russian president. He called the conflict “perverse”, noting that there are no arguments to justify violence. “When we first met and exchanged a big smile accompanied by a long handshake, it was unimaginable that we could one day be as divided as we are today.”
The king of football was also tete-à-tête with members of royal families, such as Queen Elizabeth II (1926-2022) and the current Prince of Monaco, Albert II. In the religious field, Brazilians came face to face with three popes: Paulo 6th (1963-1978), John Paul 2nd (1978-2005) and Benedict 16th (2005 to 2013).
Argentine pope Francisco, a declared football fan, received an autographed shirt from the king, but did not meet him in person. The gift was delivered in 2014 by then-President Dilma Rousseff (PT).
In Brazil, Pelé met with several presidents, including Juscelino Kubitschek, José Sarney, Fernando Collor de Mello, Dilma, as well as the current president-elect, Lula. During the military dictatorship (1964-1985), he met leaders of the regime, who sought to approach the athletes of the three-time world champion team.
In the government of Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Pelé commanded the Ministry of Sports, enshrining the Pelé Law, which guaranteed labor rights to soccer players.
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