FIFA President Gianni Infantino hits back at criticism over selfie near Pel’s coffin

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FIFA President Gianni Infantino has hit back at the backlash following his poorly timed shot at Pels’ public vigil on Monday.

During the ceremony, photographers captured the FIFA boss taking a selfie just meters from where Peles’ body lay at the Vila Belmiro stadium in Santos, Brazil, where the soccer icon played for 18 years.

In the Reuters photo, Pels’ daughter Kelly Cristina Nascimento is seen waving to mourners near the coffin as Infantino posed for the photo in the background.

Infantino explained the viral moment and posted a different angle of the photo alongside a group of Pels’ teammates, including best friend Manoel Maria.

I am appalled after being informed that I am apparently being criticized by some people for taking a selfie and photos at the ceremony yesterday, Infantino said on Instagram.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino posted a different angle of the viral photo on his Instagram.Instagram

“I would like to say that I was both honored and touched that teammates and family members of the great Pel asked me if I could take some pictures with them. And of course I immediately accepted.

In the case of the selfie, Pels’ teammates asked to take a selfie of us all together but they didn’t know how to do it. So, to be helpful, I took one of them’s phone and took the picture of all of us for him.

Football fans blasted Infantino for the classless photo, with many comparing the 52-year-old to disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter. In 2015, Blatter was banned from FIFA activities for breaches of ethics

It takes a lot to be worse than Sepp Blatter, but Gianni Infantino runs him close, says one Twitter user.

“Whenever I think Gianni Infantino can’t dig himself an even deeper hole, he somehow manages to,” another user said.

Gianni Infantino says Pel’s teammates don’t know how to take a selfie. Instagram

Pel, whose full name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, died Dec. 29 of multiple organ failure following colon cancer. He was 82 years old.

More than 200,000 mourners said a final farewell to Pel during the public hearing. On Tuesday, the three-time World Cup champion’s body was placed on a fire truck and escorted through an eight-mile procession in Santos ahead of a private funeral ceremony.

I have so much respect and admiration for Pel and for that ceremony yesterday that I would never do anything that would be disrespectful in any way.

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