Brazil's Santos announces number 10 shirt will remain vacant in tribute to icon Pele as the club plays in the second division after relegation
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No player from Brazil's Santos team will wear the number 10 shirt as long as the club plays in the country's second division, the club's new president has announced.
Marcelo Teixeira, who was elected president of Santos on Saturday, said he made the decision as a tribute to the club's biggest star, Pele, who died of colon cancer in 2022.
“Until Santos is back in Serie A, which is the standard, we will not play with the number 10 shirt,” said Teixeira, who served as president of Santos twice before.
'This year's Brazilian competition is named after King Pelé. We will continue with this mission. We will be back in the top division, but until then we will not wear our most glorious shirt.'
Each match of this year's Brazilian league honored Pelé in the 10th minute of play, a reference to the number on the shirt he wore for Santos and Brazil.
Santos have announced that the number 10 shirt will remain vacant in tribute to club icon Pele
The Brazilian team was relegated to the second division this week after a dramatic final day
Marcelo Teixeira has been elected Santos' new club president after beating four rivals
Teixeira, a businessman, defeated four rivals and finished with 53% of the vote to return to the presidency at Santos on January 1. Years ago, he proposed that the club would retire Pelé's '10' for good, but the three… The World Cup winner himself said he didn't want that to happen.
“This should have been a democratic party, but this moment is not suitable for celebration,” Teixeira told Santos club members after the vote. “We must be united from now on so that we have the opportunity to get Santos back to his level.”
Santos President Andrés Rueda, who did not vote for fear of angry supporters, published an apology video on social media on Friday.
Santos have had a difficult week since Wednesday's 2-1 home defeat to Fortaleza, which led to their first relegation. Fans burned cars and buses that night, broke into the Vila Belmiro stadium the next day and caused brawls at the club earlier Saturday as the presidential vote continued.
Santos is now in debt, politically divided, looking for new heroes and gloomy about its future with less money in the second division as Brazilian football becomes increasingly competitive and expensive.
When Pelé started playing for Santos, the '10' shirt was just one of many, with no special meaning. After he started starring for the club and for the Brazil national team, top players around the world started choosing that number as their own, including Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi.