Brazilian football legend Pelé asked Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to “stop the invasion” of Ukraine, in a letter posted on Instagram ahead of the 2022 World Cup play-off match between Ukraine and Ukraine. ‘Scotland. “I want to use today’s game as an opportunity to make a request: stop the invasion. There is absolutely nothing that justifies such violence,” wrote “King” Pelé.
“Today, Ukrainians try to forget, at least for 90 minutes, the tragedy that still affects their country. Trying to qualify for a World Cup is already a daunting task. It’s almost impossible with so many lives at stake. “I have lived eight decades, during which I have seen wars and hate speeches by leaders in the name of the security of their people. We can’t go back to that time, we have to evolve,” insisted Pelé, 81, for whom the conflict in Ukraine is “perverse” and “unjustifiable”.
The three-time world champion recalled that he had met Putin in 2017, a year before the World Cup in Russia: “we exchanged big smiles, we shook hands for a long time”. “The power to stop this conflict is in your hands. The same hands I shook in 2017,” he concluded.