A proposal by Fifa for each country to rename a stadium after the late football Brazilian great Pelé was received with mixed feelings by local football fanatics.
World football governing body president Gianni Infantino recently announced that every footballing country in the world would be asked to rename a stadium in honour of Pelé, the only player to win the World Cup three times.
Pelé died aged 82 on 29 December 2022 and was laid to rest in Brazil on Tuesday after lying in state for 24 hours at the Vila Belmiro Stadium, the home of his former club, Santos.
Former Brave Warriors coach Richard Mannetti supports the suggestion, considering Namibia has a strong football culture – only then would honouring a global icon like Pelé would be befitting.
Additionally, Mannetti urged football leaders to consider renaming other stadiums after local legends.
“For example, it would be fitting to have a Frank Fredericks stadium in recognition of his contributions to football in our country. Overall, I support this proposal and believe it is an opportunity to further celebrate and recognise the impact of football in our country,” said Mannetti.
Namibia Football Association/Fifa normalisation committee chairperson Bisey Uirab said the issue has not yet been discussed at national level.
“It’s early days; we can’t say much about it, but the issue is of national interest and it should be discussed at that level before such a decision is made,” he said yesterday.
Also speaking to this publication yesterday, Swakopmund Municipality CEO Alfeus Benjamin welcomed the idea to name a stadium after Pelé but said it would require the council to discuss it first.
While some embraced the idea of naming a stadium after Pelé, other football lovers would have none of it, with many calling for stadia to be upgraded instead.
Social media was abuzz with comments, such as: “It would be great if the stadiums are upgraded first before embarking on such decisions. Please change it (Independence stadium) to at least national standard first. It doesn’t even look like a stadium; it looks like Okaputu soccer field and it doesn’t qualify to be renamed after a soccer legend. Renovate it first, so that it can attract the renaming if possible”.
Another Facebook user said renaming any stadium in Namibia after the legend does not make sense, as he was not part of this continent and country.
“Pelé is a football hero in Brazil and America – not in Namibia and Africa. He played for his country and his continent but not for our country, neither our continent nor played in Africa. Why should we name our stadium after him? When will we have our African people recognised outside our mother Africa? I am not supporting the idea.”
Another social media comment read: “No. Unless we change it to (Peter) Shalulile stadium”.
These sentiments follow the downgrade of both the Independence stadium and Sam Nujoma stadium by Fifa and Caf in 2021, forcing Namibia’s national teams to play their international matches in South Africa.
Meanwhile, Cape Verde, which is made up of a group of islands to the west of the main African continent in the Atlantic Ocean, and which shares Portuguese as a common language with Brazil, became the first African country to rename a football stadium after the late Brazilian football legend.
They renamed the 15 000-seater Estadio Nacional de Cabo Verde to Pelé.
The stadium was inaugurated in 2004.
The country’s prime minister, Dr Ulisses Correia e Silva, said he was doing so, considering the rich culture and history the country shared with Brazil.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na
Caption:
Stadium jpg – Mixed emotions… Namibia’s Sam Nujoma stadium.
Photo: File