"Dismayed" by critics, Gianni Infantino explains his selfie in front of the remains of Pelé

The image went around the world.

And it shocked and provoked a wave of criticism that went far beyond simple football and Pelé fans.

On a snapshot we see Gianni Infantino, all smiles, during the public ceremony in tribute to the legendary Brazilian number 10, the phone in hand for a selfie just in front of the remains of the King.

A gesture made just after the leader offered his condolences to the widow of the "king" of world football, Marcia Aoki, and his son, Edinho, and which was considered a lack of respect for all.

One more controversy to the credit of the boss of Fifa.

"Dismayed" by the criticisms of which he was the target, the Italian-Swiss justified his gesture on his social networks.

An astonishing explanation since he would only have done a favor to former partners of Pelé.

“I want to say that I was both honored and humbled that the teammates and family members of the great Pelé asked me if I could take some photos with them, writes Infantino on his networks.

And of course I immediately accepted.

In the case of the selfie, Pelé's teammates asked to take a selfie of all of us together but they didn't know how to do it.

So to be helpful I took one of them's phone and took the picture of all of us for him.

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A post shared by Gianni Infantino - FIFA President (@gianni_infantino)

The best defense being the best attack, the person concerned assumes and assures that he would do the same thing if the opportunity arose.

“If being useful to a Pelé teammate creates criticism, I am happy to accept it and I will continue to be useful wherever I can to those who have contributed to writing legendary pages in football.

I have so much respect and admiration for Pelé and for that ceremony yesterday that I would never do anything that would be disrespectful in any way.

I hope those who have posted or said things without knowing and without seeking information might have the decency and courage to admit they were wrong and correct.

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Infantino had previously drawn criticism after he demanded that all Fifa-affiliated countries around the world rename a stadium in their territory after Pelé.

But according to him, the time is not for controversy.

"The most important thing anyway is to pay homage to King Pelé", says the person concerned, who also announces that one of the grounds of the headquarters of Fifa would bear the name of Pelé.

The Brazilian people's farewell ceremony to "King" Pelé attracted no less than 230,000 people, including the new President Lula, in 24 hours.