Sports

100-year-old Pele’s mum unaware son is dead

Published

3 years ago

January 2, 2023

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Pele’s mother, Celeste, will have an opportunity to say a final goodbye to her son, after initially being tragically unaware the Brazilian legend had died.

The footballer, who won three World Cups with Brazil, passed away in late December. He had been receiving treatment at Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo and his daughter, Kely Nascimento, posted an emotional tribute after her father’s passing.

Pele’s wake will take place at Estadio Urbano Caldeira (also known as Vila Belmiro), the home of Santos, the club where he spent the majority of his iconic playing career. After that, his coffin will travel through the streets of Santos, passing the neighbourhood of his 100-year-old mother to allow her to say goodbye.

Maria Lucia do Nascimento, Pele’s sister, cares for her mother and revealed Celeste was unaware of Pele’s death. “We talk but she doesn’t know the situation. She’s in her own world,” Maria Lucia said.

“She opens her eyes when I mention his name and say, ‘we’re going to pray for him’, but she’s not really conscious of what I’m saying.”

Celeste turned 100 in November, with Pele sharing a message on social media to mark the occasion. “Today, we celebrate 100 years of Dona Celeste’s life,” he wrote at the time.

“From a young age, she taught me the value of love and peace. I have well over a hundred reasons to be thankful for being her son. I share these photos with you, with great emotion to celebrate this day. Thank you for every day by your side, Mom.”

Pele’s funeral will begin at Santos’ stadium, with fans waiting up to 14 hours to join the front of the queue. The coffin will remain there for 24 hours before a parade will take the body of the footballer through the streets of Santos.

On Tuesday, it will travel through the Canal 6 neighbourhood where Celeste lives. Pele’s final place will be the Memorial Necropole Ecumenica, a vertical cemetery which will allow him to overlook Santos’ stadium, with a private funeral ceremony due to be attended by family members only.

“We wanted to come today because this will all be sealed off by the police tomorrow,” one visitor to the cemetery told The Mirror. It was Pele’s final wish to be buried there, with his father Dondinho – himself a professional footballer with Santos – also buried in the family vault after his death in 1996.

“We came to pay our respects and show the children Pele’s final resting place and what the city of Santos meant to him,” the visitor added. “And it overlooks the Vila Belmiro stadium where he graced the pitch on so many occasions.”

Sports

BREAKING: CAF overturns Afcon final result, declares Morocco winner

Published

3 days ago

March 17, 2026

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The Confederation of African Football (Caf) has overturned the result of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations finals and declare MOROCCO the winner of the title.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 in the final on 18 January in a match which was overshadowed when the Senegalese players refused to play after the hosts were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the match goalless.

Following a delay of around 17 minutes, the players did eventually return and Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved before Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored an extra-time winner.

However, that result has now been overturned by CAF.

A statement by the African Football’s Governing Body said that Senegal are “declared to have forfeited the final match” with the “result of the match being recorded as 3-0 in favour” of Morocco.

Sports

FG fulfils promises as D’Tigress receive national honours, house documents

Published

4 days ago

March 17, 2026

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The Federal Government has fulfilled its outstanding promises to the senior women’s national basketball team, D’Tigress, delivering National Honour certificates and title documents for houses in Abuja.

The presentation took place in Lyon, where the African Champions are currently participating at the FIBA Women’s World Cup Qualifying Tournament.

The move follows a directive from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu aimed at clearing a backlog of promises made to the team following their 2023 Afrobasket victory in Kigali, Rwanda.

The Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Mallam Shehu Dikko, led the delegation alongside the Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade. Speaking during the handover, Dikko characterized the prompt delivery as a “clear departure” from previous administrations, where state-promised rewards often faced multi-year delays.

“This is a prompt fulfilment of promises made by a President who leads with action,” Dikko stated. “Mr. President is giving every Nigerian athlete a renewed confidence that sports is a serious business capable of changing lives.”

While the physical assets (housing and honours) have been delivered, the NSC Chairman confirmed that the cash rewards promised to the squad are currently in the final stages of administrative processing. He assured the players that disbursement into their respective bank accounts is imminent.

The Director General, Hon. Bukola Olopade, noted that the current administration of President Tinubu is institutionalizing a “reward system” modelled after developed sporting nations to ensure high-performance outcomes.

President of Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), Engr. Musa Kida, credited the Presidency for prioritizing athlete welfare, citing it as a “legacy of a lifetime” for the sports sector.

Head Coach Rena Wakama and Captain Amy Okonkwo formally accepted the documents, affirming that the timely delivery of these incentives would serve as a catalyst for the team’s upcoming international qualifiers.

Sports

BREAKING: Ex-Eagles captainHenry Nwosu dies aged 62

Published

7 days ago

March 14, 2026

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Henry Nwosu, a former Nigerian international footballer and member of the 1980 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) winning team, has passed away.

He was 62.

His death was confirmed by fellow ex-international Segun Odegbami in a Facebook post on Saturday.

According to Odegbami, Nwosu passed away at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja after a five-day battle for his life.

He also revealed the details of Nwosu’s final days, stating that the man he fondly called “Youngest Millionaire” died at 4:00 a.m. after being in intensive care since Wednesday.

“After 5 days in hospital battling for his life, the one I call ‘Youngest Millionaire’ passed on at 4:00 am this morning at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos where he had been in Intensive Care since Wednesday,” he wrote.

“It is with deep pain in my heart that I have to be the conveyor of the news of the death of Henry Nwosu MON. May he rest peacefully with our Creator in Heaven.”