He claims he was doing a favor to some of Pele’s old team-mates who asked him to take a selfie together and were struggling to get the picture
‘Disappointed’ by criticism after taking selfie near Pele’s open coffin says FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
The FIFA boss was in Santos to pay tribute to football legend Pele who died last Thursday aged 82 after a long battle with cancer.
Infantino was seen taking a selfie with a group and sparked global criticism. He claimed in a statement that he was doing a favor to some of Pele’s old teammates who were struggling to take a selfie.
“I would like to clarify that I was honored and humbled that teammates and members of the great Pele’s family asked me if I could take some pictures with them. And obviously I immediately agreed. In the case of the selfie, Pele’s teammates asked to take a selfie of us all together but they didn’t know how to do it. So, to be helpful, I took the phone of one of them and took him the picture of all of us. If being helpful to a teammate of Pele’s brings criticism, I’m happy to accept it and will continue to be helpful where I can to those who have contributed to the writing of football’s legendary pages. I have so much respect and admiration for Pele and her yesterday’s ceremony that I would never do anything that would be disrespectful in any way,” he says.
His statement in detail:
I have just landed from my trip to Brazil where I had the privilege of attending the beautiful tribute to Pele held at Vila Belmiro, Santos.
I am disappointed after being informed that I am apparently being criticized by some for taking selfies and pictures at the ceremony yesterday.
I would like to clarify that I was honored and humbled that teammates and family members of the great Pele asked me if I could take some pictures with them. And obviously I immediately agreed.
In the case of the selfie, Pele’s teammates asked to take a selfie of us all together but didn’t know how to do it. So, to be helpful, I took the phone of one of them and took him the picture of all of us.
If being helpful to a teammate of Pele’s brings criticism, I am happy to accept it and will continue to be helpful where I can to those who have contributed to the writing of football’s legendary pages.
I have so much respect and admiration for Pele and that ceremony yesterday that I would never do anything that would be disrespectful in any way.
I hope that those who posted or said things without knowing and without seeking information could have the decency and courage to admit they were wrong and correct what they said.
The most important thing in any case is to pay tribute to King Pele, and while I humbly proposed to our 211 member associations at least one football stadium or venue named after him. We will set an example by naming our home stadium “Estádio Pelé – FIFA Zürich”. A hug and long live the King!
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