A Dixon Tribune Exclusive on Pele, 82, the World’s Greatest Football Player and How The 2026 Version of the WC Tournament in North America Will Fulfill His Vision!
#AWhiteWashTarScheme #SickExHasBeenForgiven #In2013ThatDildoWasInHerBra #ShehydroplanedonSonsback #ForABlooddraw #AsWePrayed #SheconfessedShewassick #AndPoliticallyMisled #43 Pele’s greatest goal for humanity!
Walensky, Citing Botched Pandemic Response, Calls for C.D.C. Reorganization https://nyti.ms/3Qy849o
A Dixon Tribune Exclusive on Pele, 82, the World’s Greatest Football Player and How The 2026 Version of the WC Tournament in North America Will Fulfill His Vision!
Special Report by Ben Edokpayi ©
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It is indisputable that the top seven black athletes ever, in my purview and in this order, are Pele aka Edson Arantes DeNascimento, Muhammed Ali, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, Bill Russell, Arthur Ashe and Althea Gibson.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Ashe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackie_Robinson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Owens
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Althea_Gibson
How Legends Bill Russell, 88, Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Influenced Hakeem Olajuwon’s Path To NBA Stardom
https://twitter.com/BenjaminEdokpa1/status/1565964329106624512?s=20&t=6en9lkgsJJjj4qv0j1B_hQ
How Ali Fooled Them All! https://medium.com/@benpayi/coronavirus-how-lies-fooled-the-whole-world-a-bizarre-twist-about-violence-the-most-explosive-5042a665ee1c
On Thursday the iconic Brazilian Star Pele joined these great black athletes in the great beyond after a lengthy battle with colon cancer.
“One of his daughters, Kely Nascimento, announced his death on Instagram — showing a picture of his family’s hands holding his hand. “Everything we are is thanks to you. We love you infinitely. Rest in peace,” she said ahead of services scheduled for Santos where his club career flourished. https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/pele-funeral-details-santos-fcs-vila-belmiro-stadium-will-host-wake-services-on-monday-and-tuesday/ Pelé was soccer’s global face for decades and is regarded by many as its best player of all time. He rose from humble beginnings in rural Brazil to eternalize a powerful and creative style of play.”
https://www.news24.com/sport/soccer/international/pictures-iconic-photos-of-peles-legendary-career-20221230
https://people.com/sports/pele-life-in-photos/
His book “Why Soccer Matters” co-written with Brian Winters has now sky-rocketed to the top of the best seller list. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/pele/why-soccer-matters/
This reporter was fortunate to have met the greatest footballer in Benin City, Nigeria and Palo Alto at the Stanford Venue of the World Cup.
The first time was in Nigeria where I grew up in a middle class family by American standards. My Mom, a nurse and my brothers and sisters took their baby brother to watch Pele’s Santos FC encounter the Vipers FC in my home town after they played Stationery Stores FC in the Nigerian Capital.
The second time was in 1994 just before the FIFA World Cup which I covered from the Stanford and Los Angeles Venues. I met Pele with my ex for an exclusive interview facilitated by MasterCard. This was after a trip through Brazil to cover the FIFA Junior WC in Chile in 1987. It is important to acknowledge that I was given the red carpet treatment in Rio in ’87 because of my bond with Pele as a child and that included a meeting with Gerson, the greatest Left Full Back in Football whom I met in the Media box at the vaunted Maracana football stadium.
Before that In 1969, at the height of the Nigerian Civil War which claimed two million lives, I met Pele for an autograph after their match in Benin City and that brief encounter piqued my interest in journalism.
Years later my first editor Dele Giwa, a Fordham University Graduate who worked for the New York Times before his return to Nigeria, recaptured that epic ’69 encounter at the Ogbe Stadium green.
“Pele came to Nigeria in 1969 when Edokpayi turned nine. His parents took him to watch the Brazilian magician. At the end of the game, Edokpayi dissolved into the crowd which gathered around Pele. The little boy could not get to touch the man, but he got close enough for Pele to have such a great hold on him. — I did meet Pele in 1969 — As it turned out, Edokpayi’s hope of becoming another Pele did not materialize as he wasn’t able to rise above playing for his house team at St. Patrick’s College in Asaba Said Dele who was assassinated in 1986. It was fear for my life after his assasination that the US Embassy facilitated an Einstein Visa for me to leave Nigeria in 1989. Dele’s murder is still unsolved.
https://cpj.org/2009/10/nigerian-editor-dele-giwas-unsolved-murder/
In his editorial preview of how my sports report graced the cover of a news journal, Dele wrote “Some four years later, when Edokpayi was nudging 13, another event occurred which got Edokpayi dreaming again. In 1973, Alfred Diette-Spiff decided to shave the skull of Minere Amakiri, a journalist who ran afoul of the then military governor of the Rivers State. It was an event which touched the boy Edokpayi so keenly that he vowed to become a journalist. Some 11 years later, Edokpayi, who graduated in English from the University of Calabar, got a job as a reporter with the Benin-based Nigerian Observer. Though sent to Lagos to cover the National Assembly, he soon found himself reporting sports for the paper. He became a victim of retrenchment in November 1984, barely seven months on the job. And in April last year, he was hired for general reporting by Newswatch. It was his suggestion that a cover be done on the Flying Eagles that got him the first sports assignment at Newswatch and, for reasons that no one at Newswatch can now remember, Edokpayi gravitated to the position of the sports correspondent of the magazine. He was to cover the Commonwealth Games (in Scotland.) “The Commonwealth boycott by Nigeria served as a tonic for me to speed up the league story. In the last week of the league, I traveled with Nosa Igiebor- now editor of Tell, Nigeria’s number one news journal- to Ibadan Oyo State to watch the NNB play against Leventis United,” he said. “Coming back to write the story posed a different challenge,” mused Edokpayi. “I knew in my mind that a sports story on the cover of Newswatch just had to be excellent.”
Of course that 1969 encounter with Pele was the gravitas for many of my excellent sports stories in Newswatch which was at one time Africa’s best news journal.
That encounter was the key for an exclusive interview at the 1994 FIFA WC organized by MasterCard New York where Pele played for Cosmos.
A few months before that I and my ex who was pregnant with our son hob-nobbed with some of the top names in World Football at the Las Vegas draw for the US Edition hosted in nine American Cities — Much Ado About The Number 9 -of the quadrennial tournament, considered the biggest sports convention in the world.
I also Met Pele In Las Vegas At the Draw With My Ex Who Was Pregnant With Our Son (Born May 8 1994) and later on at the Palo Alto Venue.
Excerpts from my interviews with Pele and Alan Rotherberg who was in charge of the organizers for the 1994 World Cup.
Alan Rothenberg, chairman of the U.S. World Cup organizing committee enthusiasm about ticket sales for the 1994 World Cup “From the beginning we expected to sell every ticket to every game, but I am pleasantly surprised at what is happening,” he said. ‘Everything is going well or better than anticipated. The response has been very encouraging… very, very gratifying” concluded Rothenberg whose committee forecasted that championship generated $4 billion for the U.S. economy.
Pele in his own words on his time with New York Cosmos. “I remember when I played in the league here with the New York Cosmos, I used to mention to European papers that sometime we are gonna have a World Cup in the USA. Nobody believed. Today it is a reality. I think as a show, as an event it would no doubt be fantastic because Americans know how to put on a show. This is the first time in the history of soccer they have the merchandise and sponsors all sold out 16 months before the championship.”
Big corporations that sponsored the 1994 World Cup included Coca Cola, Snickers, Gillette, Phillips, JVC, MasterCard, Canon, Fuji, General Motors and McDonalds. Other sponsors include American Airlines, Adidas, Sheraton Hotels, Sprint and Upper Deck. Each sponsor contributed between $15 and $20 million to the coffers of the World Cup USA committee.
Besides deals with sponsors, Alan Rothenberg’s committee engaged in major renovations in all the venues, a process scheduled for the 2026 edition on North American Shores.
The nine World Cup venues were Palo Alto, California; Pasadena, California; Dallas, Texas; Pontiac, Michigan; Foxboro, Massachusetts; Chicago; Orlando, Florida; Washington D.C.; and East Rutherford, New York. Interestingly, matches at the Pontiac SilverDome in Michigan were played in a domed stadium that seats 72,794. It was the first time that World Cup games we’re hosted in a domed stadium.
Pele in 1994 on the prospects of pro-soccer America. “The big mistake the national league made when I was here was they increased the 12 franchises (NASL teams) to 24. Twelve teams were very good. The other mistake is they don’t want to sign a contract with Television,” Pele said, emphasizing that “no sport in the U.S. can live without getting support from TV.”
In that 1994 The Brazilian who scored 1282 goals in a glorious career that spanned 23 years did not rule out the potential of a 1994 World Cup surprise from an African team. And the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon were the first team on his mind.
Pele in 1994 on the promise of national teams from Africa “For me the only team that played real soccer , real football in Italy (1990 World Cup) was Cameroon. Germany won the World Cup because they were organized. They played very hard. But as a spectacle, as a team, Cameroon (Known as the Indomitable Lions) was the team. If they have the opportunity to set up the same team they would be a surprise,” Pele said in an exclusive interview with this reporter. His vision was fulfilled at the Qatar edition of the WC when Morocco became the first team from Africa to earn a Semi-final berth at the prestigious tourney.
Minted mayhem and wicked twist on words from my past work! A concern for Senator Graham and of course should concern Congress about Freedom of the Press, Speech and minority health disparities!
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/lindsey-graham-somebody-needs-to-go-to-prison-for-lying-to-fisa-court-to-restore-the-rule-of-law
Football or soccer as it is known in America is the one sport that attracts athletes from every ethnic group in America from all age brackets. When I interviewed Pele It was his wish that the 1994 WC be used by the US Soccer Federation as the foundation for the world’s most popular sports to thrive in America. And with the next edition of the quadrennial tourney scheduled for North American Shores in Canada, Mexico and The United States of America it is forecasted that the 2026 edition will outshine the recently concluded edition in Doha, Qatar which produced a nail biting climax between Argentina and France, a final seen as the best ever final. https://www.ussoccer.com/
The Dixon Tribune’s exclusive preview of the recently concluded Doha, Qatar WC.
In Doha, Qatar USMNT handed a tough draw, Gregg Berhalter Aims To Eclipse Bob Bradley’s Record As Soccer Federation Plans To Use The FIFA Tourney As A Build-Up To the 2026 Edition of the World Cup Scheduled for North America
Special Report by Ben Edokpayi
https://twitter.com/BenjaminEdokpa1/status/1514871504051208192?s=20&t=pEhXc4rZ4bhDsv_NPaHUKw
https://medium.com/@benpayi/in-qatar-usmnt-handed-a-tough-draw-gregg-berhalter-aims-to-eclipse-bob-bradleys-record-as-soccer-e9b5d1353cf5
This article is published in the New Year’s day edition of the Dixon Tribune. The Tribune is the newspaper of record for the city of Dixon, 21,000. Formerly known as Dickson the city is located between Vacaville and Davis, Yolo County.
The Abortion Scenario
God told me the fetus in Aviara was flushed down a toilet probably in March 2018. The aborted pregnancy resulted from a reckless nursing mother’s liaison with two men in one month — a tout and a white expat worker at Wellington Hotel, Warri in what seems to have been a scripted eugenics scheme on tape that included use of my blood smuggled from Kaiser and hair from a downtown Oleh Barber shop, used at various times with a liquefied form of my missing travel meds. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/got-no-mail/
Walensky, Citing Botched Pandemic Response, Calls for C.D.C. Reorganization https://nyti.ms/3Qy849o
https://twitter.com/BenjaminEdokpa1/status/1609204612367810561?s=20&t=W4ObVJOvTGE2Q0S1KNgE_Q
