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Pele fans search Brazilian football legend’s hometown for souvenirs

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1 year ago

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The deteriorating health and eventual death of sports legend Pele has rekindled curiosity about the quiet town of Tres Coracoes in southeastern Brazil, where the football prodigy was born 82 years ago.

Fans seeking rare mementos of the Brazilian star are scouring the town of 75,000 inhabitants where Pele was born to a poor family and spent the first years of his life.

A month ago, Pele was admitted to Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo, where he had been undergoing treatment for colon cancer since late 2021.

Eight days ago, the hospital announced Pele’s cancer was showing “progression” and he needed “more extensive care to treat kidney and heart failure.”

Tres Coracoes, which means “three hearts” in Portuguese, is located some 250 kilometers (150 miles) from Brazil’s three major metropolises: Belo Horizonte, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The small town is surrounded by coffee plantations and is famous for just one thing: the birth, in 1940, of Edson Arantes do Nascimento, known as Pele.

Pele moved away from Tres Coracoes at a young age before joining his longtime club, Santos FC, as a teenager.

Santos, a port city near Sao Paulo, now hosts the Pele Museum, where most of his trophies and other memorabilia are displayed.

The football star’s declining health has drawn fans to the museum and to Tres Coracoes, where they can visit Pele House — a replica of his first home.

“I had never been to this house, which is already ten years old,” said Neilor Henrique, who lives nearby.

“But the news of his hospitalization made me want to visit it,” the 41-year-old told AFP.

Built based on the memories of Pele’s mother, Celeste Arantes do Nascimento, now 100 years old, the house shows the family’s modest origins, with a few pieces of wooden furniture, straw mattresses, an old radio and a framed portrait of his parents on one wall.

– Immense statue –
A few meters (yards) away, the small museum Terra do Rei (Land of the King) exhibits Santos jerseys signed by Pele, a football he played with and his birth certificate.

But some fans say they wished Tres Coracoes had more mementos of the man dubbed “The King.”

Rafael Antunes took a detour during a family trip to visit the town in search of Pele souvenirs.

“I found few traces of him in the town, almost none,” said the 43-year-old entrepreneur, unimpressed by the huge statue of Pele that stands at the entrance to the town.

“I think it shows a certain lack of respect for the role he played for football and our country,” he said of the only player to ever win the World Cup three times.

But Fernando Ortiz, a family friend, has a different reasoning for why there aren’t more monuments to Pele.

“Many Brazilians can’t stand to see their compatriots succeed. And when it’s a black Brazilian, the dismissal is even stronger,” said the 60-year-old, who spearheaded the construction of Pele House.

“Unfortunately, I think that if Pele had been a white man with light eyes, he would have been accepted by everyone.”

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Juventus ordered to pay Ronaldo €9.7m unpaid salaries

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1 day ago

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April 18, 2024 10:01 am

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Juventus must pay Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo 9.7 million euros ($10.4 million) in back wages for the 2020-21 season, the Italian courts announced on Wednesday.

The Court of Arbitration, to which Ronaldo appealed, “orders Juventus Turin to pay the sum of 9,774,166.66 euros”, plus interest and procedural costs, it stated in its decision.

The sum equates to the difference between the salary actually received by Ronaldo and that which he should have received after tax and other deductions.

Ronaldo, who spent three seasons in Italy with Juventus (2018-21) before joining Manchester United (2021-22) and then the Saudi club Al Nassr, was claiming 19.5 million euros but the arbitration panel reduced that by 50 per cent.

Contacted by AFP, Juventus declined to comment, but said it would be issuing a statement “shortly”.

According to the rankings drawn up by the American business magazine Forbes, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner was the world’s highest-paid sportsman in 2023, with $136 million, including $46 million in wages.

Juventus, who are listed on the stock exchange, recorded losses of 123.7 million euros in the 2022-23 financial year, which ran to the end of June, it announced in October.

No provision has been made in the accounts of Italian football’s most successful club, currently third in Serie A, for the payment of this wages backlog.

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EPL to adopt semi-automated offside technology next season

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6 days ago

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April 13, 2024 12:19 pm

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The English Premier League (EPL) says semi-automated offside technology will be used in matches from next season.

The league announced the decision in a statement on its website on Thursday.

The decision was made after a unanimous agreement by all the clubs at a Premier League Shareholders’ meeting.

The technology will be ready for use from the 2024/25 season after the autumn international breaks.

“The new system will be used for the first time in the Premier League next season, and it is anticipated the technology will be ready to be introduced after one of the autumn international breaks,” the statement reads.

“The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters.”

The first usage of the semi-automated offside technology in top-level football was at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The offside rule has been subjected to change in recent years, with the video assistant referee (VAR) technology also deployed to assist the on-field officials in checking for offside calls leading to a goal.

The EPL further updated its offside rule in the summer of 2023 to include that “a player who is clearly offside should not become onside on every occasion when an opponent moves and touches the ball.”

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Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya sets to break Guinness World Record

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6 days ago

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April 13, 2024 12:17 pm

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Nigerian chess master, Tunde Onakoya has revealed plans to break the Guinness World Record for the longest chess marathon.

Onakoya who made the plan known on his X account on Friday said that he is “doing this for the dreams of millions of children across Africa without access to education.”

He added that the attempt will hold on April 17th at the New York City’s Times Square and he is to play chess for 58 hours without a single defeat.

He wrote, “On the 17th of April 2024, I will attempt to break the Guiness World record for the longest Chess marathon in the heart of Times Square New York City for 58 hours without losing a game. Doing this for the dreams of millions of children across Africa without access to education.”

Onakoya disclosed that the attempt will start at 10am and would be available for all to stream on YouTube.

He appealed to Nigerians residing in New York, urging them to come forward and provide their enthusiastic support as he strives to establish a new world record.

Tunde Onakoya is renowned for his philanthropic efforts, notably utilizing chess as a tool to offer opportunities for young people residing in the marginalized areas, often referred to as ‘slums,’ within the country.

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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