Brazils Maracana stadium under consideration to be named after football legend Pele

Pele, one of football’s greatest
players, will be adding another feather to his already illustrious cap, as Rio
de Janeiro state legislators voted on Tuesday to rename the famous Maracana
stadium in Rio after him. The votes were registered to change the Maracana
stadium’s name to ‘Edson Arantes do Nascimento – Rei Pele’, the full name of
the world football icon, as well as ‘King Pele’, his nickname in the country,
AFP reported.

The bill will now proceed to the
state’s interim governor Claudio Castro, who would have a 15-day window to take
a decision on whether to enact the bill into a law.

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Pele is a legendary figure in the
country’s football history, who so far has been the only player to win three
consecutive world cups (1958, 1962 and 1970).

Currently, the stadium, which is also
a renowned landmark in the city, is named ‘Journalista Mario Filho’, after a
Brazilian journalist who is associated with giving football the near-religious
status it enjoys in Brazil presently.

Among the country’s residents,
however, the stadium is known predominantly as Maracana, named after the neighbourhood
the complex falls in.

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It is the home ground for both
Fluminese as well as Flamengo, who right now are the reigning champions of the
country’s domestic league.

The noted landmark has seen its share
of historic moments, as it played host to two FIFA World Cup finals, in 1950
and 2014, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies of 2016 Rio Olympics.