(Sporting Alert) — Argentina legendary Diego Maradona has taken another swipe at one of his most fierce rivals, Pele, after suggesting the the Brazilian legend will always be second best.
The latest war of words from Maradona came following FIFA’s decision to award Pele the Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur in Switzerland during their ceremony last week, as he was not eligible to win the award seeing that he did not play in Europe.
That decision was applauded by many, but Maradona was far from impressed.
“How can you say that Pele received the Ballon d’Or before me? I received the award in Paris [in 1996]. So to make Pele the first one to receive the award before me is a huge mistake,” the Argentine was quoted as saying.
“According to me, Pele will always remain second best in football when compared to Maradona. Look at it this way, in his own country, Brazil, Pele is the second best sportsman after Ayrton Senna [the former F1 driver].
“Pele will always be second, be it in international football or in Brazilian sports. The sad thing is that he is second best and he will continue to stay in that position.
“While presenting the award [this year’s Ballon d’Or] to Cristiano Ronaldo, Pele uttered his name as ‘Cristiano Leonardo’. This just shows where he belongs.”
