Cape Verde has become the first country to name a stadium after Pele following FIFA President, Gianni Infantino’s call for every nation to do so.
The Prime Minister of the African country said they would name their national stadium- Estadio da Varzea- after the Brazil great, who died aged 82 on December 29.
Cape Verde, which constituted a group of islands to the West of the main African continent in the Atlantic Ocean, shares Portuguese as a common language with Brazil.
Prime Minister Ulisses Correia e Silva disclosed that Brazil and Cape Verde had a history and a culture that “go hand in hand, considering that they are two sisters countries, linked by language and by very similar identities “.
“Pele will always be a reference in Brazil as well as the rest of the world for generations” he added.
The official Cape Verde government website said that the executive had already notified FIFA of its intention to change the name of the stadium.
Infantino said, “We’re going to ask every country in the world to name one of their football stadiums with the name of Pele.”
