King Pele to attend Subroto Cup 2015 final match

New Delhi, September 7, 2015: In what could be the most glorious moment for Subroto Cup in its history of 56 years, the greatest football player of all time, Edson Arantes do Nascimento a.k.a. Pelé would be attending the final match of the 2015 edition on 16th October 2015 at New Delhi as a Special Ambassador for the tournament. This is the first time ever that ‘The Black Pearl’ would be visiting the capital of India.

The organizers of the tournament, Indian Air Force, shall be hosting Pelé on 15th October and 16th October 2015. Pelé shall attend a dinner reception on 15th October in the presence of personalities from the sports, entertainment and business worlds. He will also watch the final match of the Subroto Cup 2015 to encourage the participants of the tournament and inspire millions of young football players across the country. To add to the joy of Pelé’s fans, Santos FC, the club where he spent nearly 20 years of his career, will also participate in the tournament.

Confirming the news, Pelé said,” I am looking forward to meeting the young footballers participating in the Subroto Cup and celebrating the world’s greatest sport with the children of India.  I am impressed with the hard work that the Indian Air Force has put in to nurture such a big and important football competition that brings the youth of this beautiful country together.  I hope my visit will inspire these champions of tomorrow”.

On behalf of the Indian Air Force, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha PVSM AVSM VM ADC said, ‘PELÉ’, the greatest football player of all time, will be visiting India for only the second time, after a gap of 38 years for the grand finale of Subroto Cup, scheduled on 16 October 2015.  The whole country, and the Indian Air Force in particular, is extremely delighted to have the presence of this great football legend”.

He Continues, “Pelé is a legendary name who has inspired almost 3 generations of football lovers and we are looking forward to welcome him to our country. This is our priceless gift to not only the participants of Subroto Cup but also to the passionate followers of the sport across the nation. We hope that his presence and words of wisdom encourages everyone to work for the progress of the beautiful game”.

“All this initiative was made by the Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society in association with its football consultancy partner Libero Sports India, who shall also be working with various other stakeholders to ensure that Indian Football is able to gain as much as possible from the experiences of Pelé.”

About Pelé:

On October 23, 1940 in Três Corações, in a city in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil, a legend was born.  Today, in a world of 7 billion people soccer is the foremost sport and Pelé (Edson Arantes do Nascimento) remains at the center of “the beautiful game” – where he is universally recognized, respected and revered in every corner of the globe. 

Pelé stared his professional career at the age of 16 for Santos Futebol Clube, a club he stayed with for nearly two decades.  In 1958, he won his first World Cup for Brazil at age 17 – the youngest winner ever.  He went on to win another two World Cups in 1962 and 1970, making him the only person in the world today with three Jules Rimet trophies to his name.  Not only is Pelé the all-time leading scorer of Santos FC and Brazil national team, but he is the all-time leading scorer in the history of the sport (1283 goals in 1366 matches).

In 1974, Pelé came out of semi-retirement to sign with the New York Cosmos for the 1975-1977 seasons and led his teams to the 1977 NASL championship.  After his final career match on October 1, 1977 in front of more than 75000 fans, Pelé shouted, “Love! Love! Love!” and urged his audience to pay attention to the youth of the world.  Pelé will never forget where he came from and has a never-ending desire to give back.

From his humble beginnings, to his unmatched athletics feats, to his post‑career influence and impact on every continent - Pelé lives with great honor and pride of his birth place (Três Corações means Three Hearts) in that, “Where I was born, where I grew up and where I played football- they given me three hearts too”.

Named on the “Top 20 Most Important People of the 20th century” (Time Magazine) and “Football Player of the Century” (FIFA), Pelé today maintains his commitment to the sport and to society by fulfilling various roles as spokesperson, ambassador and philanthropist.

About Subroto Cup: 

Subroto Cup International Football Tournament is conducted by the ‘Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society’ (SMSES) in New Delhi every year under the aegis of ‘Indian Air Force Sports Control Board’, since 1960.  This is a unique tournament, wherein the champion school teams from every Indian States and Union Territories participate and vie for the top honours of Junior football in India.  Having started the tournament in 1960 with 50 schools from Delhi, today, as many as 32,000 schools across the country participate in this tournament.  So as to further the objective of the Society to ‘encourage football at grass roots’ and to provide international exposure to our budding footballers, foreign participation is also ensured in this tournament.  As a result, teams from Brazil, Indonesia, Ukraine, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Malaysia, Israel, Bhutan, UAE and Uzbekistan have participated in this tournament in the recent past.

About Libero Sports India:

Libero Sports is a full service professional athlete representation and corporate consulting company serving the global football industry through its offices and experts located in the emerging football markets throughout the world. Headquartered in Chicago (USA), Libero has main offices in Delhi NCR (India) and Tokyo (Japan) along with individuals based in Central America, Europe and Korea. 

Press release