Following Pelé's passing, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has proclaimed a three-day period of national mourning, with Tuesday set as the funeral day (January 3).
A 24-hour wake is scheduled for Monday, January 2, at the Estádio Urbano Caldeira, where Pelé played for Santos FC from 1956 until 1974.
The casket will be carried in a parade through the streets of Santos the following day, and it will arrive at the Ecumenical Memorial Necropolis cemetery, where he will be buried in a private ceremony.
“With regret the passing of a man, who through football, took the name of Brazil to the world,” wrote Bolsonaro, who is leaving office today (January 1).
“He turned football into art and joy. May God comfort your family and welcome you into his infinite mercy”.
Bolsonaro’s successor, the President-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, wrote on Twitter that “few Brazilians carried the name of our country as far as he (Pele) did”.