"Soccer Player Has No Future"... 'Football Emperor' Pele's Mother Passes Away, Worried About Son

In 2022, Due to Old Age, Did Not Realize Son's Death
Opposed Starting Player Career Despite Knowing Pele's Talent

The mother of the "Football Emperor" Pel?, Celeste Arantes, passed away at the age of 101 on the 21st (local time), according to reports from G1 and AP·AFP news agencies citing the family.

Santos FC, the Brazilian professional football team where Pel? played during his active career, posted on Instagram expressing "deep condolences on the passing of the mother of the eternal king" and announced a three-day mourning period at the club level.

Pele (left) posing with his mother in March 1965 [Image source=Yonhap News]

Born in 1923, Arantes married at the age of 16 and gave birth to Pel?, the eldest of three children, in 1940 the following year.

G1 reported that although Arantes recognized Pel?'s innate talent for football, she was not pleased with her son pursuing a career as a player, saying "there is no future in playing football."

During his lifetime, Pel? achieved the feat of winning the FIFA World Cup three times (1958, 1962, 1970), earning the nickname "Football Emperor." According to FIFA records, he appeared in 1,366 matches and scored 1,281 goals.

Pel? passed away in December 2022 at the age of 82 after battling cancer. At the time of his death, the funeral procession in Santos, a port city in Brazil, briefly stopped in front of his mother's residence, but AFP reported that due to her advanced age, Pel?'s mother was unaware of her son's passing.