Pele to sell life’s worth of football memorabilia worth £3.5m to ‘share with the world’
Brazilian legend to flog unique World Cup, winner’s medals and commemorative ball with Julien’s Auctions handling the sale
PELE is selling his life’s worth of football memorabilia to “share these items with the world”.
The Brazilian legend, 75, has THREE World Cup winner’s medals and has been honoured with a unique Jules Rimet trophy, elaborate crowns and ceremonial daggers.
The Fifa Player of the Century has been quoted £3.5million for his most prized possessions which also include the keys to several cities, various medals and the ball he scored his 1,000th goal with.
Beverly Hills-based Julien’s Auctions will handle the sale, which also includes personal items such as old passports and driving licences.
Dan Nelles, a sports specialist at the auction house, told the BBC: “There are many reasons, there are clearly some personal ones that he alone knows about.”
Pele added: “It was a difficult decision to make but it takes a lot to properly care for these artefacts, and I felt I could do much more good by sharing these items with the world, as well as helping my causes that are important to me.”
His World Cup replica is expected to fetch up to £420,000, while the medals are likely to go for up to £141,000 and the ball he scored his 1,000th goal with should sell for up to £42,000.
Nelles said: “There are so many wildcards in the auction, the Jules Rimet trophy, his World Cup medals, soccer boots, which means that ideally we are looking at three times that conservative estimate, and maybe as much as 10 times.
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“There are also a great number of game-worn items from his career.”
“The property is in storage and it wasn’t seeing the light of day, which this auction now allows. Also, he wasn’t sure what of it his family wanted to keep, and he didn’t want it [the collection] to fall by the wayside.
“And the Pequeno Principe paediatric hospital in Brazil, which he supports, will receive a proportion.”