One of the greatest soccer players in history, Edson Arantes do Nascimento better known as “skin‘, died on December 29 at the age of 82. Although his talent in football was undisputed, the truth is that the Brazilian has never set foot on one european club. This is due to a law in his home country that prevented ‘O Rei’ from playing abroad.
Below we tell you more details about this part of his football career that didn’t shine on international courts for long.
The law that prevented Pelé from playing for a European club
One of the most important signings in the history of football in the United States was Pelé, who became part of New York’s Cosmos club in 1975, a fact that marked his departure from the club of his life, Santos. However, due to a Brazilian law, he almost didn’t make it to play for the American club.
During his tenure in the Cosmos, Pelé received one of the highest salaries of any signing at the time. Photo: New York cosmos
In 1961, passion for Edson Arantes do Nacimento was so great that Brazilian President Janio Cuadro passed a law designating him a “National Treasure”. In this way, Pelé was prevented from playing for any club other than Santos, despite several European teams wanting his signing. Their entry into the cosmos was also endangered by this law, since it had not yet been abolished.
Pelé’s passage through the cosmos
Finally, in 1975, after nearly five years of trying to bring Pele to the US, NY Cosmos got it and featured him as his new character. The salary received by the Brazilian soccer player was just over 4.5 million. Additionally, his arrival marked the beginning of the club’s golden stage as other renowned players such as Beckenbauer, Cruyff, Chinaglia and Carlos Alberto joined the ranks.
Pelé joined the Cosmos in 1975 and popularized soccer in the United States. Photo: New York cosmos
Pelé had a good debut, but his first season in New York didn’t go so well. It wasn’t until 1977 that his team won the NASL title, the year he also said goodbye to the soccer fields, with a friendly between Cosmos and Santos, where “O Rei” played a time with each club.