False claim about FIFA 'keeping Pelé's feet in museum' circulates after football legend's death
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on January 11, 2023 at 07:57
- Updated on January 11, 2023 at 08:15
- 1 min read
- By Kate TAN, AFP Australia
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"Breaking," reads a post shared on December 30 on a Facebook page with more than 390,000 followers.
"FIFA will keep Pele's feet in the museum. Pele's family has given the permission. Source: [TNT_Sports_Brazil}'.
Similar posts circulated on Facebook and Twitter accounts around the world, including in Papua New Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria, after the football icon died at the age of 82.
Widely regarded as the greatest player of all time, Pelé is the only footballer in history to win three World Cups -- 1958, 1962 and 1970.
The claim sparked criticism from social media users who appeared to believe it was true.
"The respect he has all over the world is enough. Let his body be interred intact," one comment read.
"So they amputated him? Very weird," another said.
False report
Responding to the posts, a FIFA representative told AFP: "We completely refute this claim."
Pelé was buried on January 3 at the Memorial Ecumenical Cemetery in the south-eastern port city of Santos, where "The King" played for most of his career.
A spokesperson from the cemetery told AFP that the player's embalmed body would rest in a coffin in a 200-square-metre mausoleum decorated like a football stadium.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Brazilian outlet TNT Sports Brasil said it never reported the false claim.
"We were not the source of this post / report," a spokesperson told AFP.
A search of TNT Sports Brasil's coverage of Pelé's death found no trace of the false claim.
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