adminDisgraced FIFA president Gianni Infantino has defended his decision to take a selfie near Pele’s open casket during the late Brazil legend’s funeral this week.
The Italian was one of thousands of people who paid their final respects to football’s only three-time World Cup winner, who died on December 29 aged 82 following a lengthy battle with colon cancer.
Pele’s coffin was set up at the stadium of his former club side Santos before being laid to rest, and as mourners streamed passed to take one last glimpse at their hero, Infantino decided to grab a few selfies, including one with Pele’s former team-mate Lima.
In response to the shameless stunt, fans labelled Infantino a “disgrace”, “classless” and a “total plank”, with one social media user even calling for him to be arrested.
The FIFA chief attempted to diffuse the situation on Instagram by claiming Pele’s team-mates had asked him to do a selfie as they didn’t know how to take one.
“To be helpful, I took the phone of one of them and took the photo of all of us for him,” he wrote. “If being helpful to a team-mate of Pele creates criticism I’m happy to take it and will continue to be helpful wherever I can to those having contributed to write legendary pages of football.”
Fans, however, weren’t buying the explanation. “What a lame excuse and zero remorse,” one person tweeted, while another asked: “Is he trying to make everyone want [Sepp] Blatter back?” A third said: “This man has no shame.” A fourth added: “Clearly just wanted the Instagram liked. What a tool.” – Daily Star
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter