Pele gathers sports stars for a charity auction

These items, as well as others by Cristiano Ronaldo and Kylian Mbappe, are among 229 that will go on sale next month at an auction organized by Pele for the foundation he created in 2018 to help disadvantaged children.

The Brazilian, the only player to have won three World Cup medals and a man often referred to as the greatest footballer of all time, said all the funds raised will help Brazil fight and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. .

So far 575,000 people have died in Brazil from COVID-19, the second highest death toll in the world after the United States.

“Pele is such a legend, he is an icon and other sports stars admire him,” Martin Nolan, executive director and CFO of Julien’s Auctions, based in Beverly Hills, told Reuters.

“Since he was at home in his bubble, he had time to focus on this project.”

Pelé has provided some of his items for the auction on 22 September, but has also asked for favors from friends from the world of sports and entertainment.

There are jerseys and photos of Brazil, Santos and New York Cosmos autographed by the eighty-year-old Pelé, and others autographed by former Brazilian teammates such as Rivellino, Jairzinho and Clodoaldo.

Mario Zagallo, the coach of Brazil’s revered 1970 World Cup-winning team, who turned 90 earlier this month, also contributed as did Neymar, Roberto Baggio and Roger Milla.

Pele’s foot

World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer has signed a series of photographs from his days in New York Cosmos and West Germany; there is a ball from the 2015 Champions League final; and jerseys and equipment used in basketball, American football, field hockey and water polo are also up for grabs.

One of the items that is expected to reach a high price is a gold-plated bronze cast of Pele’s foot made by famed sculptor Dante Mortet.

Outside of football, Justin Timberlake, Maria Sharapova, Mark Wahlberg and the NBA have all donated items.

“Anything from Pele people will want, but you mention Ronaldo, you mention Mbappe, those icons will be sought after,” Nolan said of the strikers from Portugal and France.

“But because it’s a charity auction, people always show up, they’re always extremely generous, and they pay more than a regular auction because they know it’s going to go to a good cause.”

This is not the first auction organized by Pele. In 2016, it auctioned more than 1,600 items from a collection it accumulated over six decades in the spotlight and raised 3.6 million pounds ($ 4.90 million).

This latest auction will take place at the Mall Galleries in London and is also open to online bidders.