This follows a campaign led by the Pelé Foundation and SporTV dubbed “Pelé in the dictionary”.
The campaign gained massive support online and garnered over 125,000 signatures, with Pele’s name now added to the Portuguese edition of the Michaelis dictionary as an adjective.
The Michaelis dictionary defines “Pele” as: “What or who is out of the ordinary, what or who by virtue of their quality, value or superiority cannot be equaled to anything or anyone, just like Pelé, nickname of Edson Arantes do Nascimento (1940-2022), considered to be the greatest athlete of all time; exceptional, incomparable, unique.
“Examples: He is the Pelé of basketball, she is the Pelé of tennis, she is the Pelé of Brazilian dramaturgy.”
Pele sadly passed away on December 29, 2022, following a long battle with colon cancer.
A three-time FIFA World Cup winner, he scored over 1000 goals in his career and is regarded by many as the greatest footballer of all time.
Earlier this year, the National Sports Authority (NSA) said it was open to naming a stadium in Ghana in honour of the Brazilian legend.
This was confirmed by the Director-General of the NSA, Prof. Peter Twumasi, who said the Authority was willing to make it happen.
His declaration followed a request by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who announced in January that the football governing body will ask its member associations to name a stadium after Pele.