- Colombia has become the first country in Latin America to receive a request from the Swiss President of the International Federation of Football, Gianni Infantino, to name a stadium after Brazilian football legend Pele, who died last week after a long struggle with cancer.
- Infantino said at the weekend that FIFA would ask all member states to name one of their stadiums after the Brazilian icon, who is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time.
- Late Wednesday night, the governor of Colombia's southern Meta province, Juan Guillermo Zuluaga, announced on Twitter that a stadium in the city of Villavicencio "will be called Belo Horizonte - Rey Pele (King Pele)".
- "Future generations should know who the world football icon was," Zuluaga said.
The 15,000-capacity stadium, which opened in 1958, was previously called Belo Horizonte, which means "beautiful skyline" in Spanish.
The stadium is supported by the second-class Colombian club Llaneros.
Pele died on December 29 at the age of 82 after a long battle with colon cancer. He was buried Tuesday in Santos, the city where he played most of his football career and made his glory.
Cape Verde preceded its counterpart, Colombia, to name a stadium after Pele, following the announcement of its Prime Minister, Jose Ulises Correa e Silva, earlier Wednesday, to rename the National Stadium in the capital, Praia.
In the city of Maceió, located in northeastern Brazil, since 1979, there is a stadium called "Rey Pele", although it is known as Trapichao.