Abedi Pele

Abedi Pele is a former Ghanaian football player.

He was born in Dome on 2 November 1962. Pele was named African Footballer of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1993 and he was named one of the top 125 Greatest Living Footballers in March 2004.

Pele was captain for the Ghana national soccer team for 6 years from 1992 to 1998 and was one of the first African players to finish highly in the FIFA World Player of the Year lists in 1991 and 1992.

Winning the France Football Magazine African Player of the Year three times, the BBC version of the Award three times and the Confederation of African Football version twice Abedi Pele is truly a talented player. Pele was also awarded the Golden Boot Award for being the best player at the 1992

African Cup of Nations and was the "man of the match” on Marseille's historic European Champions League final win over AC Milan in 1993. Abedi Pele is considered one of the great pioneers of African football in Europe. One of the first great African players to make an impact on European club football, he played for teams in Switzerland, Germany, Italy and France.

Playing for Ghana 67 times during the 1980's and 90's, Pele was a highly acclaimed fixture in the African Championships. He is considered as possibly the greatest football player in his country's history and among the best in Africa. He never had an opportunity to play in the World Cup, but arguably he was the most dominant figure on the African soccer scene for nearly a decade. He has since become one of the continent's most respected and important ambassadors. He is a member of FIFA's Football Committee and is currently on the player status committees of both FIFA and CAF.

Pele has the singular honour of participating in more FIFA organised charity matches than any African player. At present he owns a club with future hopes of nurturing young talent to augment the fledging league in Ghana.

This information was provided by the South African 2010 Local Organising Committee.

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