one small story my brother in law told me
he took me out in his mineiro city, uberlandia, to one of these exclusive sports clubs that the rich are members of, all bow-tied waiters and pools and tennis courts. it had been around since the 30s but he told me it had a no black person policy when Pele rolled into town in the early sixties, already a star of santos. The club extending him a special invitation. Pele turned up with 20 other black locals he'd brought, saying if they didn't let his 'friends' in he wouldn't attend, forcing a policy change. so there was more to him than football.
had a google. might have been this occasion in '61. paid him a pile for an exhibition match so might have been hard to refuse him
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but he's not quite held in the same reverence in brasil, though I'm sure they'll make a fuss now. mostly because of the damage to his rep fighting not to acknowledge an illegitimated daughter who was living in squalor in a favela. it took five years in court for him to admit the girl was his, despite it looking a like a chip off the old block. it was a bit of cunt's act
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Fri 30 Dec 2022, 4:30,
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Hmmm.
I’m sure the impoverished masses in the favélas, who his illegitimate daughter was soon to join, were immensely grateful that he had opened the doors to exclusive country clubs for them. Did he help out with joining fees?
I’ll always remember him as the affable geriatric flogging Viagra for Pfizer on the telly adverts. It was an all time classic "I’m asking for a friend" marketing. He even did interviews saying he still had plenty of lead in his pencil, but if ever he didn’t, he would definitely take Viagra. So dignified.
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Prufrock Lucifer, son of the morning!, Fri 30 Dec 2022, 14:45,
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You’re projecting again Benny.
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Prufrock Lucifer, son of the morning!, Fri 30 Dec 2022, 16:51,
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jealous? just a story I was told that I haven't heard repeated. thought it might be interesting
thought pru's points were valid too. Pele was a shill
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Fri 30 Dec 2022, 21:31,
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I'm not claiming he was rosa parks, and I told how many brasilians talk about him to show people are contradictions, often hypocritically so
but he did this gesture at a time when there was no civil rights in brasil. he didn't have to, whether it made a difference or not. They still talk about it in uberlandia, so it did something. Also possible he became cynical and venal as he got older, many people do
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Fri 30 Dec 2022, 21:40,
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