Pele wrote to Putin: "stop that aggression"

Legendary Edson Arantes do Nascimento ‘Pelé’ asked Vladimir Putin on Wednesday to stop Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began in late February and has already left more than 4,000 dead in the civilian population.

The message from what many consider the best footballer in history to the president of Russia was released before the start of the match in which the Ukrainian and Scottish teams were in Glasgow during the qualifying playoffs for the 2022 World Cup.

“In a few minutes, Ukraine will be playing its first official match since the beginning of the conflict. I wrote this letter personally. I hope that the violence will end and that we can build a better world together. , ”Pelé said in a message posted on Instagram along with the photo of the letter addressed to the Russian president.

“I want to take advantage of today’s fight as an opportunity to make a request: stop this aggression. There are no arguments to justify this violence,” Pelé asked Putin in the letter.

A “perverse and unjustifiable” conflict

In the letter, ‘O Rei’ indicated that the difficult task of getting a venue to play the World Cup in Qatar becomes “almost impossible” when so many lives are at stake and pointed out that the conflict that existed after the invasion of Ukraine it is “evil, unjust, and leaves nothing but pain, fear, dread, and anguish.”

“When we met then and exchanged a big smile, accompanied by a long handshake, I never thought we could be as divided someday as we are today,” Pele said at the end of the letter.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on Feb. 24, has left a total of 4,074 dead in the country among the civilian population and another 4,826 injured, according to data released Tuesday by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.