Pele to light Rio pyre

“I have a contract that I am bound to fulfill,” Pele told Globo TV late on Tuesday, adding that he was consulting the U.S. company that holds the rights to his brand name whether he can take up the invitation from the Olympic organizing committee. 

“As a Brazilian, I’d love to do it,” said the 75-year-old, who helped his country win the World Cup three times and would be launching the Games in the stadium where he scored his 1,000th goal in 1969. 

Pele said that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and the head of the Brazilian committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman had personally asked him to light the pyre and that he would have an answer on Thursday. He said he would have to cancel a trip organized by his sponsors. 

Pele played in four World Cups and is the only player to have won it three times: in 1958 in Sweden, 1962 in Chile and in 1970 in Mexico.