OLIVER HOLT: I never thought I would praise Gianni Infantino but at least he went to Pele’s funeral

Most of what Gianni Infantino does and most of what he represents these days seems specifically designed to trigger a gag reflex.

Recent footage of the FIFA president gazing adoringly at the absurdly self-centered and relentlessly conceited celebrity chef Salt Bae in his Dubai restaurant was but one small example of how Infantino seems utterly enslaved by money, celebrity and excesses.

Infantino has made a habit of reaching out to Middle Eastern despots and embarrassing himself, and football, with his subservient subservience to authoritarian rulers such as the Emir of Qatar and Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman.

Infantino’s notorious ‘I feel gay today’ speech on the eve of the World Cup was a low point of the entire tournament.

It was a minor misjudgment by FIFA to allow Salt Bae onto the pitch after the World Cup final between Argentina and France last month, partly because his presence once again associated modern footballers with the conspicuous consumption and people who don’t think about eating a steak. covered in gold leaf and paying £1,450 for it. One more reason to love Lionel Messi was that he blanked out Salt Bae while he pestered him on the pitch.

So it’s a bit against the grain to defend Infantino for anything, but here goes: Infantino got a raw deal for his behavior at Pele’s wake in Santos last week when he was roundly criticized for taking a selfie with some of the exes. Pele’s Santos FC. teammates near where the body of the man many believe to be the greatest player of all time lay in an open casket.

Admittedly, it wasn’t a great look, but the former players had asked Infantino for a photo and he agreed to their request. Refusing might have been better judged, but it would also have been rude.

Nor was it as dissonant as it seems. The atmosphere at the wake was not as gloomy as it would have been in the UK, perhaps. There was a degree of informality.

I stood in line for a few hours with 230,000 other mourners to parade past Pelé’s coffin and felt an overwhelming sense of wanting to celebrate the life of the man referred to in his home country as ‘Rei’.

As we entered the stadium and walked across the pitch where Pelé had played for 18 years, approaching his coffin, it wasn’t just Infantino clutching a mobile phone: most people were taking selfies.

And here is the other thing that makes me feel that the criticism of Infantino, in this case, is unfair. His presence seemed to bring comfort to Pele’s family. The fact that the world soccer boss had made the trip to the port city a two-hour drive from Sao Paulo was a source of pride for them.

And that’s the fact of the matter, really: unlike most past and present Brazilian greats, unlike past soccer heroes from other countries, at least Infantino turned up.

The same cannot be said of Ronaldo Nazario. Or Ronaldinho. Or Rivaldo. Or Kaka. Or Romario, who, in his defense, was never close to Pelé. “Pelé is a poet when his mouth is closed,” Romario said a decade ago.

There was no sign of Cafu, the 2002 World Cup-winning captain, or Neymar, Brazil’s current talisman and the man who shares Brazil’s record of 77 national team goals with Pelé. Not a trace of the previous coaches of Brazil, Tite, Dunga or Luiz Felipe Scolari.

It’s hard to comprehend, unless you were there, just how savage the criticism was from those who stayed away. Pelé had been the greatest living Brazilian and it was considered a national insult that so many had not paid their respects to him in person. Perhaps due to his frequently professed piety, Kaká attracted the most criticism.

After the criticisms, the excuses began. Cafu said that he was on the other side of the world and that he could not catch a flight on time. Rivaldo said: ‘The best tribute is in life and I did this and I have a very clear conscience’. PSG were said to have banned Neymar from attending, but others have pointed out that he was once given permission to attend Carnival. So that excuse didn’t really add up.

No one should have to cry in public, of course, and it’s easy to sympathize with the reasoning of Rivaldo, who treated Pelé with respect and reverence when he was alive. But the absence of a single representative of the 2002 World Cup-winning team and the absence of leading soccer figures from other countries was regrettable.

While working as an expert on Qatar during the World Cup, Kaká, a member of that 2002 team, said Brazilians did not respect their great soccer players enough. “Ronaldo Nazario, in Brazil, is just a fat man walking down the street,” he told viewers. So it seemed ironic that he didn’t bother to attend the funeral of the best Brazilian soccer player.

There are several issues at stake here. The most obvious is football’s lack of respect for its past. It was instructive that former players’ apathy for Pelé’s memory was contrasted with the public’s desire to pay him respect.

Brazilian soccer is torn by intergenerational resentments and jealousies between the players, and sadly, it seems they were played on a particularly public stage in Santos.

Brazilian sport is not the only one that turns its back on the old heroes. It’s uncomfortable to admit even now, but Bobby Moore was drawn to the game in his later years and made a living working for Capital Gold with his great friend, commentator Jonathan Pearce.

Moore loved his radio work and was good at it, but the game should have treated him better.

Today’s players take a lot from the game, much more than Pele’s generation. They deserve the money they make and I don’t envy them, but their status makes it more important that they do the right thing and occasionally give something back.

Look at the tireless work Marcus Rashford did in his campaign for free school meals for hungry children. And the efforts of Jordan Henderson and Mark Noble to provide funding for the NHS during the pandemic. And Kenny Dalglish’s support for the grieving families of those murdered in Hillsborough in 1989.

Soccer is full of examples of players and former players who make you proud of the sport, but the ones who should have been in Santos last week were left out.

Gianni Infantino did the right thing. Why couldn’t they?

A TRIBUTE TO VIALLI

I made I don’t know Gianluca Vialli but I loved the Sampdoria team that he was a part of and that reached the European Cup final against Barcelona in 1992. That game was at Wembley and it was the first European final I had ever seen live and Vialli was one of my favorites ever since on

I was lucky enough to speak to him for an hour or so via Zoom call during the pandemic when he was publicizing his autobiography. In that brief time in his company, he seemed as gentle, funny, self-deprecating, and kind as all who knew him well say he was.

After his death on Friday, everything indicates that he will be remembered as a great footballer and a better man.

GIVE POTTER THE SUPPORT IT DESERVES

Graham Potter hasn’t become a bad manager in the short time since he joined Chelsea, but he went from a well-run club with smart executives to a club that never had much patience and now seems to be a basket case in the transfer market.

Potter represents Chelsea’s best hope for patching things up, but he needs more support if the uncertainties created by the new ownership at Stamford Bridge don’t engulf him.