during a media opportunity at a
restaurant in London. Rio’s state
legislature voted the second week of
March 2021, to give Gov. Claudio Castro the authority to rename the historic Maracana stadium after Pele.
SÃO PAULO—The historic Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro will not be renamed after Pelé.
State governor Claudio Castro on Thursday vetoed a divisive proposal passed by the state legislature to honor the three-time World Cup winner by calling it the “King Pelé Stadium.”
The stadium, which hosted the 2014 World Cup final and opening ceremony of the 2016 Olympics, will keep its official name of Estadio Jornalista Mario Filho, after the Brazilian sportswriter credited with the idea to build the stadium for the 1950 World Cup.
However, it is widely just called the Maracanã, after the Rio neighborhood it’s located in.
The veto comes after the proposal had been widely criticized and Castro said even the lawmaker behind the bill, André Ceciliano, had asked him to scrap the idea.
Filho had used his newspaper Jornal dos Sports to coordinate a campaign to convince Rio’s citizens that the stadium had to be constructed closer to the city center instead of an original plan to build it in a neighborhood far away. His relatives had campaigned against the name change.
The state-owned Maracanã can hold about 78,000 fans and is home to Rio clubs Flamengo and Fluminense.
The 80-year-old Pelé has not commented on the issue since the bill passed Rio’s state legislature.
Refs no autographs please
IN Nyon, Switzerland, the UEFA has told match officials it is unacceptable and undignified to seek autographs from players, after a referee’s assistant asked Erling Haaland to sign red and yellow cards after Borussia Dortmund’s Champions League game at Manchester City.
UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti wrote to refereeing teams after the incident in the tunnel in Manchester on Tuesday night was caught on camera as the players left the field following Dortmund’s 2-1 loss.
“UEFA has strived to get you respected as much as the players and you have helped with that by looking the part: athletic, commanding, respectful and professional,” Rosetti wrote Wednesday in correspondence first reported by British broadcaster Sky Sports and verified by UEFA.
“If you want to be respected as much as the players, why would you ask for their autograph or their shirt? Do they ask you for the same? This is simply unacceptable, this is a matter of dignity and don’t forget about the number of TV cameras at UEFA matches—they catch everything.”
It was later reported in his native Romania that Octavian Sovre, the referee’s assistant at City, wanted the signed cards to raise funds for an autism center.
3 GB teams fight racism
THREE British soccer clubs announced week-long boycotts of social media on Thursday over the racist abuse sent on the platforms.
Swansea, which plays in England’s second-tier League Championship, was the first of the clubs to say it won’t post on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok and Snapchat. The Welsh club was followed by Birmingham and Scottish champion Rangers.
“We are concerned with the daily racist abuse our players have to endure, and believe that although social media can be a very positive and healthy platform for communication, there is undoubted concern the levels of hate are now spiraling out of control,” Rangers said in a statement, calling for more robust verification processes.
Swansea has written to Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey and Facebook counterpart Mark Zuckerberg to ask for more stringent policing and punishments for those posting racist messages.
“Three of our squad have been racially abused in recent weeks and, as a squad and club, we wanted to take this stance as we again call on those at the forefront of social-media companies to implement the change that is needed now and in the future,” Swansea captain Matt Grimes said. AP
Image credits: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth
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