Pele, Beckenbauer to receive FIFA centennial awards

Pele and Beckenbauer to receive FIFA centennial awards

ZURICH, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Pele and Franz Beckenbauer will be awarded FIFA's Centennial Order of Merit on Thursday.

The award ceremony was originally scheduled to have taken place at FIFA's Centennial Congress in Paris in May but Pele was recovering from an eye operation and could not attend.

The awards are being given to mark their outstanding lifetime contributions to the sport. Pele won the World Cup with Brazil in 1958 and 1970 and is considered the greatest player in soccer history.

Beckenbauer is the only man to captain and then coach his team to World Cup victory -- feats he achieved in 1974 and then 1990 with West Germany. He is now the president of Germany's 2006 World Cup organising committee.

After the ceremony, due to be held at FIFA's headquarters, the two men will be part of the panel to choose their three favourite FIFA Centennial stamp designs from over 70 submissions from the postal services of FIFA member associations.

Pele's 1958 World Cup shirt sold for £59,000

LONDON: The shirt worn by Pele when he scored two goals as a 17-year-old for Brazil in the 1958 World Cup final against Sweden was sold at auction at Christie's yesterday for £59,000.

The blue, short-sleeved, v-necked shirt with Pele's number 10 on the back went to a telephone buyer for substantially less than the pre-sale estimate of £70,000-£100,000.

It had been on show at a museum in Sao Paolo but was sold off to raise funds.

Although Brazil usually wear yellow shirts, they played in their change colour of blue in the 1958 final so as not to clash with Sweden. Brazil won the match 5-2.

In 2002, the number 10 shirt Pele wore in the 1970 World Cup final fetched £157,750.

Also at yesterday's auction the England shirt worn by midfielder Paul Gascoigne in the 1990 World Cup semi-final against West Germany was sold for £24,000. - Reuters