Was Pele Gay? – Sportsmanor
The greatest icon of soccer, Pele passed away at the age of 82 on December 29, 2022. The Brazilian had an unbelievable career but had a few slip-ups as well. One of them was when his sexuality was questioned by many.
The Brazilian legend was a star man for his country Brazil and club Santos. He holds the record of scoring the most goals scored ever in men’s soccer with 1283 goals. Pele played in a dream Brazilian team from 1950-1970. He unbelievably won three World Cups with the Brazil team.
The former Santos superstar was suffering from a year-long colon cancer, which was only diagnosed in the third stage. He had a cancerous tumor removed last year, but the infection already was spread to other parts of his body. Reports mention that the Brazilian wasn’t responding to chemotherapy and passed away peacefully in his family’s presence at Albert Einstein Hospital.
Pele reportedly confessed he had “homosexual relationships”
Many years ago, the soccer icon caught the world off guard when he admitted to having homosexual relations with other men. It’s even more surprising if the man admits it by himself.
According to an article published by the Hindu Businessline Pele said, “Until I was 15 or 16 years old, I had a few homosexual relationships. My debut was with a gay who was put away by the entire team,” to a Brazilian journalist named Jose de Aquino.
Diego Maradona calls out Pele for being gay
Diego Maradona and Pele became acquaintances in the later stages of their lives. However, they had a go at each other, especially Maradona. In 2000 Pele and Maradona both published their autobiographies and the Argentine had a go at Pele for being gay, referring to his comments back in the 1980s.
In his book ‘I am Diego’, Maradona claimed that Pele had a gay relationship with a coach back in the day. Later on, in a press conference, he was asked about this instance and he didn’t back out. He said, “What do you want me to say? He debuted (lost his virginity) with a lad (a man),” to the media in the press conference.
Pele denied being gay in 2011
The Brazilian didn’t respond to the Argentine’s comment for a long time. After 11 years of the comment made by Maradona, Pele come out in 2011 and said, “I wouldn’t have any problem in admitting to it if it had really happened,” stating how his comment was twisted and misunderstood by the public.
Grellet, a friend of Pele and the writer of the great man’s autobiography, said that Maradona was simply jealous of the Brazilian in Pele’s book. He also said that the former Brazil star had long and hard thinking about answering Maradona’s comments. He didn’t do it being sympathetic to the major health problems of the Argentine.
RIP Pele #Pele #RipLegend #Maradona pic.twitter.com/9M6xesh3B1
— Omar Momani (@omomani) December 29, 2022
Despite all the negative history between these two great of the game, they did become friends in 2016. Maradona was seen hugging the 3x World Cup winner with affection after Pele’s hip surgery in Palais Royal in Paris. He said, “It is really nice to see him like this, healthy, and being able to join us,” in Paris.
At the end of the day, both of the greats of the game have departed their earthly forms, and hopefully, they join each other in heaven continuing their friendship.