Brazilian soccer legend Pele passed away today.

(File photo, AFP)

[Central News Agency] Brazil's "ball king" Pele has repeatedly set records in his career. He has been married 3 times, and his life outside the football field is even more exciting. It is the first of its kind for a sports superstar to make a lot of money.

Agence France-Presse sorted out the other side that may make Billy's flawless image ruined as follows:

Please read on...

● Tying shoelaces can also earn money from endorsements

Billy has earned millions in endorsement fees endorsement for Visa Inc. and MasterCard Inc., and even sandals made from recycled tires.

Barbara Smit (Barbara Smit) in the book "Sneaker Wars" (Sneaker Wars, tentative translation) mentioned how Billy reached a deal with Puma (Puma), allowing him to earn $ 25,000 in the 1970 World Cup, And in the next 4 years, he will earn 100,000 US dollars and a commission on the sales of brand sneakers.

Puma and rival Adidas AG didn't want to raise their prices, so they both agreed not to sign Billy as a spokesperson, but Billy found a way to break through by "bending down to tie his shoes" before Brazil's quarter-final match against Peru. bring".

Billy did just that, and the cameras caught the moment, earning him an easy $2.85 million in today's dollars, not including his cut of the sneaker sales.

A 2002 ad for the impotence drug Viagra was Billy's most shabby endorsement ever, urging viewers at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana Stadium to "go talk to your doctor because I will do the same."

Because of that drug ad, Billy was named Japan's first educational ambassador for erectile dysfunction that same year.

Billy claims, however, that he has never used Viagra.

● Many problems in family life

Argentine football icon Diego Maradona is Pele's rival for the title of best footballer of all time.

Billy is often seen as dependable and corporate friendly compared to the sometimes elusive Maradona, but his private life is full of problems.

Two months after Billy won the World Cup in 1970, his eldest son, Edinho, was born.

Edinho was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in 2017 for drug trafficking, money laundering and other crimes.

In an interview with Bleacher Report that year, Edinho revealed that Billy, who had a reputation as a playboy in Brazil, moved his family to New York in the mid-1970s to play for the North American Soccer League Cosmos ( Cosmos, how was he absent from the father role.

Billy left his first wife, Rosemeri dos Reis Cholbi, shortly after moving to the United States.

The father and son later reconciled.

Billy played for Santos, where Edinho also played in goal.

In contrast, Billy's relationship with his eldest daughter is more problematic.

Billy had an affair with a maid, so in 1964 gave birth to Sandra (Sandra Arantes do Nascimento), but refused to acknowledge this daughter.

After five years of litigation, the Brazilian court ruled in 1996 to confirm the father-daughter relationship between the two.

Sandra later published a book called "The Daughter The King Didn't Want" (The Daughter The King Didn't Want, tentative translation).

Sandra died of breast cancer in 2006 at the age of 42.

At the time Billy refused to attend the funeral and did not recognize Sandra's two children.

In 2016, Billy, who was over 70 years old, married Marcia Aoki, a 42-year-old businesswoman at the time, as his third wife.

Billy met Aoki in New York in the 1980s, but didn't start dating until 2010, when the two met in an elevator in Sao Paulo.

● Filmed and recorded

Billy is also known to fans for his role as Corporal Luis Fernandez in the movie "Escape to Victory".

The film is about a group of ragtag prisoners of war trying to escape a German POW camp during World War II.

Also participating in the film are veteran British actor Michael Caine and veteran action star Sylvester Stallone, which was the peak of Billy's acting career.

Billy is no stranger to the music world. He recorded records as early as 1960, and released an album in 2006 with the well-known Brazilian singer and songwriter Gilberto Gil.

Ten years later, Billy also recorded the song Esperanca (meaning "hope") for his motherland's Olympic event.

In 2020, on his 80th birthday, Billy recorded a song with the Grammy Award-winning Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, "for fans and His own little birthday present" to promote the song.

● Trapped in Nigeria

One of the scariest experiences of Billy's life happened on a jaunt.

In 1976, PepsiCo Inc. sponsored a trip to Lagos, Nigeria, just in time for a failed military coup.

The Nigerian ruler at the time, Murtala Mohammed, was assassinated in a coup.

Billy was in the Nigerian capital when American tennis player Arthur Ashe played the Lagos Tennis Classic.

When Wimbledon champion Ash and another American player Jeff Borowiak (Jeff Borowiak) were playing in the semi-finals, they were taken away from the court by armed soldiers and sent to the same hotel where Billy stayed.

Billy was smuggled out of the country as soon as the Nigerian border was opened, and Brazilian authorities insisted that Billy disguise himself as a pilot to avoid revealing his identity.

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